Link Group Configuration Method and Device

ABSTRACT

A link group configuration method includes obtaining first status information of M links between a source end device and a receive end device, where the first status information indicates a status of a differential delay between any two of the M links, obtaining first capability information of the receive end device, where the first capability information indicates a first capability of performing differential delay compensation on the M links by the receive end device, grouping N of the M links into a first link group based on the first status information and the first capability information, and sending first configuration information to a second device, where the first configuration information includes information used to indicate the first link group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/CN2018/082469 filed on Apr. 10, 2018, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 201710295516.7 filed on Apr. 28, 2017.The disclosures of the aforementioned applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the transport network field, and inparticular, to a link group configuration method and device.

BACKGROUND

Currently, in an Ethernet transport network, a plurality of physicalconnection links (hereinafter referred to as “link”) are usually bundledinto one logical link using a link aggregation group (LAG) technology toincrease bandwidth and improve link availability.

In the LAG technology, S physical connection links, between adjacentdevices, whose bandwidth rates R are the same are usually bundled intoone LAG whose bandwidth rate is S*R to implement linear enhancement ofthe bandwidth rate, thereby satisfying a bandwidth increase requirement.For a user service above a Media Access Control (MAC) layer, the LAG isrepresented as a logical interface. A transmission device may classifypackets from the MAC layer based on information such as a source MACaddress and/or destination MAC address or a virtual local area network(VLAN) label to distinguish between different services. For example,packets with a same source MAC address and a same destination MACaddress belong to a same service. After being processed using a hashalgorithm, a plurality of services are allocated and restricted to onespecific link of the LAG for sending. In the LAG technology, a packet ofone service is sent only using one link. Therefore, there is no packetdisorder problem for the service, and the LAG does not need tocompensate a transmission delay difference between links. However,because in the LAG technology, a packet of one service is sent onlyusing one link, to be specific, traffic of one specific service inservices cannot exceed a bandwidth rate R of a single link, the LAGcannot reflect a bandwidth rate of S*R for a single service.

In a flexible Ethernet (FlexE) or a flexible optical transport network(FlexO), a LAG may be formed through link bundling and concatenation inorder to support parallel transmission across a plurality of links tocarry at least one service. The optical transport network is referred toas OTN. Because of cross-link service transmission, differential delaycompensation needs to be performed for a transmission delay of eachlink, to align services that are transmitted in parallel on a pluralityof links. A differential delay compensation capability of a receive enddevice is actually subject to a specific engineering restriction. If adifferential delay of a link exceeds the differential delay compensationcapability of the receive end device, an entire LAG fails consequently.

SUMMARY

This application provides a link group configuration method and devicein order to improve availability and robustness of a link in a transportnetwork.

According to a first aspect, a link group configuration method isprovided, including obtaining, by a first device, first statusinformation of M links between a source end device and a receive enddevice, where the first status information is used to indicate a statusof a differential delay between any two of the M links, any one of the Mlinks is a FlexE physical connection link or a FlexO physical connectionlink, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, obtaining, by thefirst device, first capability information of the receive end device,where the first capability information is used to indicate a firstcapability of performing differential delay compensation on the M linksby the receive end device, grouping, by the first device, N of the Mlinks into a first link group based on the first status information andthe first capability information, where N is an integer less than orequal to M and greater than or equal to 2, and sending, by the firstdevice, first configuration information to a second device, where thefirst configuration information includes information used to indicatethe first link group.

It should be understood that the first device is a decision device thatdetermines a link group division manner, and the second device includesa related device that cooperates with the decision device to completelink group configuration.

It should be further understood that the link group configuration methodin the first aspect is applied to a case in which the M links cannot bealigned on the receive end device, that is, a case in which the firstcapability of performing differential delay compensation on the M linksby the receive end device is insufficient to align the M links.

According to the link group configuration method in the first aspect,the first device groups the N of the M links into the first link groupbased on a status of a differential delay between the M links betweenthe source end device and the receive end device and the capability ofperforming differential delay compensation on the M links by the receiveend device. This avoids a case in which all of the M links areunavailable when the differential delay between the M links exceeds thedifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device.Therefore, availability and robustness of a link in a transport networkcan be improved.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first device isthe receive end device, the second device is the source end device, andobtaining, by a first device, first status information of M linksbetween a source end device and a receive end device includes measuring,by the first device, a differential delay between the M links to obtainthe first status information, and the method further includesperforming, by the first device, differential delay compensation onlinks in the first link group based on the first configurationinformation, and performing, by the first device, service datatransmission with the second device based on the first link group. Inthis possible implementation, the receive end device acts as a decisiondevice and determines a link group configuration. In this way, executionis easy and simple, and signaling overheads during link groupconfiguration are small.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, obtaining, by a firstdevice, first status information of M links between a source end deviceand a receive end device includes receiving, by the first device, thefirst status information sent by the receive end device, and obtaining,by the first device, first capability information of the receive enddevice includes receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation sent by the receive end device.

In a possible implementation, the first device is the source end device,and the second device is the receive end device. In this possibleimplementation, the source end device acts as a decision device, and maydetermine a link group configuration with reference to relatedinformation of service data, for example, comprehensive factors such asa service volume and/or bandwidth.

In another possible implementation, the first device is a managementdevice, and the second device includes the receive end device and/or thesource end device. In this possible implementation, the managementdevice acts as a decision device. In this way, the management device canreceive related information of the source end device and the receive enddevice, and can determine a link group configuration in consideration ofcomprehensive factors such as a service volume and/or bandwidth. Inaddition, this can avoid a computing amount possibly resulting fromdecision-making of the source end device or the receive end device, andcan reduce load of the source end device and the receive end device.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, K upstream devices ofthe receive end device on the M links have a delayed-sendingcompensation capability, where K is a positive integer, the K upstreamdevices include the source end device and/or at least one intermediatedevice, the intermediate device is located between the source end deviceand the receive end device on the M links, and the method furtherincludes obtaining, by the first device, second capability informationand second status information of each of the K upstream devices, wherethe second capability information is used to indicate a secondcapability of performing delayed-sending compensation on at least one ofthe M links by each upstream device, and the second status informationis used to indicate a current status of delayed-sending compensationperformed on the at least one of the M links by each upstream device,grouping, by the first device, N of the M links into a first link groupbased on the first status information and the first capabilityinformation includes grouping, by the first device, the N of the M linksinto the first link group based on the first status information, thefirst capability information, the second status information, and thesecond capability information, and the method further includesdetermining, by the first device based on the first status information,the first capability information, the second status information, and thesecond capability information, a configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation that each upstream device needs to perform on acorresponding link.

When the M links cannot be aligned on the receive end device, the Mlinks cannot constitute a link group, to be specific, a FlexE group or aFlexO group crashes and cannot work. The source end device, the receiveend device, the intermediate device, and the like in the embodiments ofthis application may all have a differential delay compensationcapability or a delayed-sending compensation capability. The devices inthis possible implementation implement link group compensation throughcapability negotiation. When a compensation capability of each device inthe FlexE group or the FlexO group between the source end device and thereceive end device is insufficient to compensate a differential delaybetween links, a link group is configured such that the source enddevice performs cross-link service data transmission only ondelay-aligned links. Alternatively, devices perform collaborativecompensation such that the M links can be aligned on the receive enddevice finally. This can ensure working of the FlexE group or the FlexOgroup, and can improve link utilization.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first device isthe receive end device, the second device is the source end device, andobtaining, by a first device, first status information of M linksbetween a source end device and a receive end device includes measuring,by the first device, a differential delay between the M links to obtainthe first status information, obtaining, by the first device, secondcapability information and second status information of each of the Kupstream devices includes receiving, by the first device, the secondcapability information and the second status information that are sentby each upstream device, and the method further includes sending, by thefirst device, second configuration information to at least one of the Kupstream devices, where the second configuration information is used toindicate a configuration of delayed-sending compensation that the atleast one upstream device needs to perform on a corresponding link.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method furtherincludes performing, by the first device based on the firstconfiguration information, differential delay compensation on a link, inthe first link group, on which the at least one upstream device hasperformed delayed-sending compensation based on the second configurationinformation, and performing, by the first device, service datatransmission with the second device based on the first link group.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first device isthe source end device, the second device is the receive end device, andobtaining, by a first device, first status information of M linksbetween a source end device and a receive end device includes receiving,by the first device, the first status information sent by the receiveend device, and obtaining, by the first device, first capabilityinformation of the receive end device includes receiving, by the firstdevice, the first capability information sent by the receive end device.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the K upstream devicesinclude the first device, and the method further includes transmitting,by the first device based on the first link group, service data to thesecond device based on a determined configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation that the first device needs to perform on a correspondinglink.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the K upstream devicesinclude at least one intermediate device, and obtaining, by the firstdevice, second capability information and second status information ofeach of the K upstream devices includes receiving, by the first device,the second capability information and the second status information thatare sent by each of the at least one intermediate device, and the methodfurther includes sending, by the first device, second configurationinformation to at least some of the at least one intermediate device,where the second configuration information is used to indicate aconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation that the at least someintermediate devices need to perform on a corresponding link.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first device is amanagement device, the second device includes the receive end deviceand/or the source end device, and the obtaining, by a first device,first status information of M links between a source end device and areceive end device includes receiving, by the first device, the firststatus information sent by the receive end device, obtaining, by thefirst device, first capability information of the receive end deviceincludes receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation sent by the receive end device, obtaining, by the firstdevice, second capability information and second status information ofeach of the K upstream devices includes receiving, by the first device,the second capability information and the second status information thatare sent by each upstream device, and the method further includessending, by the first device, second configuration information to atleast one of the K upstream devices, where the second configurationinformation is used to indicate a configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation that the at least one upstream device needs to perform on acorresponding link.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the firstconfiguration information includes a mark used to indicate that a linkbelongs to the first link group.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, sending, by the firstdevice, first configuration information to a second device includesadding, by the first device, the first configuration information to areserved field of an overhead code block, and sending the reserved fieldto the second device.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, sending, by the firstdevice, first configuration information to a second device includessending, by the first device, the first configuration information to thesecond device using a first link of the N links, where the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate that the first linkbelongs to the first link group.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, a first part of bitsin the first configuration information is used to indicate that thefirst link and another link constitute the first link group, and asecond part of bits in the first configuration information is a mark ofthe first link group.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, receiving, by thefirst device, the first status information sent by the receive enddevice includes receiving, by the first device, the first statusinformation that is sent by the receive end device and that is carriedin a first type-length-value (TLV) unit in a Link Layer DiscoveryProtocol (LLDP) format of a management channel of an overhead codeblock.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first TLV unit isfurther capable of carrying information that is used to indicate acurrent status of delayed-sending compensation performed on the M linksby the receive end device when the receive end device sends service datato the source end device.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the first TLV unit isfurther capable of carrying information that is used to indicate aconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation that an upstream deviceneeds to perform on a corresponding link.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, receiving, by thefirst device, the first capability information sent by the receive enddevice includes receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation that is sent by the receive end device and that is carriedin a second TLV unit in an LLDP format of a management channel of anoverhead code block.

In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the second TLV unit isfurther capable of carrying information that is used to indicate acapability of performing delayed-sending compensation on the M links bythe receive end device when the receive end device sends service data tothe source end device.

According to a second aspect, a link group configuration device isprovided, where the link group configuration device is a first device,and is configured to execute the method in any one of the first aspector the possible implementations of the first aspect. Further, the linkgroup configuration device may include modules configured to execute themethod in any one of the first aspect or the possible implementations ofthe first aspect.

According to a third aspect, a link group configuration device isprovided, where the link group configuration device is a first device,and the link group configuration device includes a processor, a memory,and a network interface. The memory is configured to store aninstruction. The processor and the network interface are configured toexecute the instruction stored in the memory, and execution of theinstruction stored in the memory causes the processor and the networkinterface to execute the method in any one of the first aspect or thepossible implementations of the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, a link group configuration device isprovided, where the link group configuration device is a first device,and the link group configuration device includes a processor, a memory,and a network interface. The memory is configured to store aninstruction. The processor and the network interface are configured toexecute the instruction stored in the memory, and execution of theinstruction stored in the memory causes obtaining, by the first device,first status information of M links between a source end device and areceive end device, where the first status information is used toindicate a status of a differential delay between any two of the Mlinks, any one of the M links is a FlexE physical connection link or aFlexO physical connection link, and M is an integer greater than orequal to 2, obtaining, by the first device, first capability informationof the receive end device, where the first capability information isused to indicate a first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device, grouping, by thefirst device, N of the M links into a first link group based on thefirst status information and the first capability information, where Nis an integer less than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 2,and sending, by the first device, first configuration information to asecond device, where the first configuration information includesinformation used to indicate the first link group.

According to a fifth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided,where the computer storage medium stores an instruction, and when theinstruction is executed on a computer, the computer executes the methodin any one of the first aspect or the possible implementations of thefirst aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, a computer program product including aninstruction is provided, and when a computer executes the instruction ofthe computer program product, the computer executes the method in anyone of the first aspect or the possible implementations of the firstaspect.

Effects that can be achieved in the second aspect to the sixth aspectare corresponding to effects that can be achieved in the first aspect,and details are not described herein again.

It should be understood that, in the aspects of this application andcorresponding implementations of the aspects, for transmission of anyone of the first status information, the first capability information,the second status information, the second capability information, thefirst configuration information, or the second configurationinformation, status, capability, or configuration informationcorresponding to each link may be transmitted on the link, that is,related information is transmitted using a link as a granularity.Certainly, in the aspects of this application and correspondingimplementations of the aspects, related information may alternatively betransmitted using another granularity, for example, using a device as agranularity. This is not limited herein.

It should be further understood that, in the aspects of this applicationand corresponding implementations of the aspects, differential delaycompensation is delayed-receiving compensation, namely, compensation ina receiving direction, and usually is also referred to as “deskew”, anddelayed-sending compensation is compensation in a sending direction, andusually is also referred to as “remote deskew”.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a code block stream at a 100G FlexEinterface;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a functional structure of areceive end device in a FlexE;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of sending, by a receive end device, acode block stream in a FlexE;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a frame format of a FlexE overhead codeblock;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of FlexEcross-transport-network transmission;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a link group configuration methodaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a status of a differential delaybetween links according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a link group configuration resultaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a process of link group configurationand compensation according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a process of link group configurationand compensation according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a process of link group configurationand compensation according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a process of link group configurationand compensation according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a link group configurationdevice according to an embodiment of this application; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a link group configurationdevice according to another embodiment of this application.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following describes the technical solutions in this application withreference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the technical solutions in the embodimentsof this application may be applied to a FlexO, a FlexE, or anothernetwork. This is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

It should be understood that a physical connection link in theembodiments of this application may be simply referred to as a “link”,and a link in the FlexE may also be referred to as a “PHY link”. Thelink in the embodiments of this application is a link between a sourceend device and a receive end device, and there may be an intermediatedevice on the link from the source end device to the receive end device.

The following briefly describes concepts in this specification.

FlexE technology is as follows.

For a considerably long time period till now, the Ethernet has beenwidely applied and significantly developed. An Ethernet interface rateincreases tenfold, and has continuously evolved from 10 megabits persecond (Mbps) to 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps (that is 1 gigabits per second(Gbps)), 10 Gbps, and 100 Gbps. With the ever-increasing Ethernetinterface rate, further improvement of the Ethernet interface rategradually approaches a bottleneck technically. In addition to meetdiversified Ethernet interface rate requirements in an actual scenario,for example, 200 Gbps, Ethernet interfaces of 40 Gbps, 200 Gbps, and 400Gbps are developed.

Before a standard of a new-generation higher-rate Ethernet interfacecomes into being, a bandwidth requirement of a network usually exceedsan existing Ethernet interface rate. In a transition phase in which astandard of a new Ethernet interface comes into being and costs of thenew Ethernet interface are relatively high, a LAG technology allows aplurality of low-rate Ethernet interfaces to be bundled into one LAG toimplement a virtual high-rate Ethernet interface. However, in the LAGtechnology, service data is allocated, based on a service, to eachinterface in the LAG using a hash algorithm. Similar to a service-basedload balancing method, the LAG also has a problem that interfacebandwidth allocation is unbalanced and utilization is low. If there is aservice whose rate is greater than a single-interface rate, the servicestill needs to be allocated to only one interface using the hashalgorithm, and as a result, the interface is congested and a servicetransmission rate is limited by a rate of the interface.

In a forwarding device, when a service is forwarded from a low-rateinterface to a high-rate interface, a packet of the entire service needsto be buffered before forwarding, to avoid packet breakage. This greatlyincreases a service data transmission delay. To improve efficiency offorwarding between interfaces of different rates, the opticalinternetworking forum (OOIF) releases a multi-link gearbox (MLG)technology in order to inversely multiplex a high-rate Ethernetinterface and divide the high-rate Ethernet interface into severallow-rate Ethernet interfaces. However, the MLG technology supports onlyseveral fixed interface division manners, for example, dividing a 40GEthernet interface into four 10G Ethernet interfaces or two 20G Ethernetinterfaces, and a subinterface type supported by the MLG technology islimited. Therefore, flexibility is not high enough.

A FlexE technology is a flexible-Ethernet interface technology developedfor the foregoing requirement. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a codeblock stream at a 100G FlexE interface. As defined in the FlexE 1.0standard, a Flex performs time division multiplexing (TDM) on a serviceof a 100G Ethernet interface using 20 code blocks (block) as a period,to divide the 100G Ethernet interface into 20 timeslots at a granularityof 5G (corresponding to one code block in a period of 20 code blocks).One FlexE overhead (OH) code block is inserted at an interval of 1023×20data code blocks, as shown in FIG. 1. The FlexE may bundle S Ethernetinterfaces into one LAG, and service data may be transmitted in an idletimeslot that is randomly selected from 20*S timeslots of the LAG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a functional structure of areceive end device in a FlexE. As shown in FIG. 2, according to a FlexEtechnology, a new layer, that is, a FlexE shim layer, is inserted abovea physical coding sublayer (PCS) of an Ethernet interface. The FlexEshim layer carries a plurality of FlexE services (also referred to asFlexE Client) upward, and is connected to a plurality of 100G Ethernetinterfaces downward. The FlexE 1.0 standard stipulates that a FlexEclient is a code block stream of 64-bit data to 66-bit line code(64b/66b) encoding, and after rate adaptation is performed through idlecode block insertion/deletion (that is, Idle Insert/Delete), code blocksin a code block stream of a FlexE service are successively placed intotimeslots allocated to the FlexE service.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of sending, by a receive end device, acode block stream in a FlexE. As shown in FIG. 3, in the FlexE, thereare 20*S timeslots in total for a LAG including S physical connectionlinks, that is, a FlexE group including S physical links (also referredto as PHYs). At a FlexE shim layer, a position of a 66b code block isallocated using a 20*S-long timeslot allocation table (Calendar). Forexample, the first 20 code blocks in a period are sent using a PHY1,subsequent 20 code blocks are sent using a PHY2, and so on, until codeblocks are sent using a PHYS. Herein, 20 code blocks on each PHY mayalso be referred to as a timeslot allocation sub-table (Sub-calendar).In a specific example, a 10G FlexE service occupies two of the 20*Stimeslots. In this case, in one period, two code blocks are extractedfrom a code block stream of the 10G FlexE service, and are placed atcorresponding positions (one code block corresponds to one 5G timeslot).In another specific example, a 25G FlexE service occupies fivetimeslots, in each period, five code blocks are extracted from a codeblock stream of the 25G FlexE service, and are placed at correspondingpositions in the calendar. Configuration information indicating whichFlexE service is transmitted in each timeslot in the FlexE group isspecified in a specific field in a FlexE OH code block.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a frame format of a FlexE overhead codeblock. As shown in FIG. 4, 32 contiguous FlexE frames constitute oneFlexE multiframe, and one FlexE OH frame includes eight contiguous FlexEOH code blocks. For the first code block in a FlexE frame, a “00x4b” or“0x5” field is used as a mark field to identify the code block as an OHcode block. After identifying the OH code block, a receive end devicecan receive a next OH code block after receiving 1023×20 64b/66b codeblocks (data code block). The rest may be deduced by analogy, and theentire FlexE frame can be extracted from a code block stream.

As shown in FIG. 4, a FlexE OH frame transmitted on each link includesfields such as a FlexE group number, a PHY map, a PHY number, a timeslotallocation table (Calendar) A, and a calendar B. The FlexE group numberis used to indicate a number of a FlexE group to which the link belongs.The PHY map (which needs to be indicated using a total of 8×32=256 bitsin one FlexE multiframe) is used to indicate distribution of PHYsincluded in the FlexE group to which the link belongs. The physical linknumber may be one of 1 to 254. The calendar A and the calendar B arerespectively used to indicate a current calendar configuration and analternative calendar configuration of the FlexE group. In the third codeblock in each FlexE frame, 16 bits are used to indicate a number ofservice data transmitted in a timeslot. A first FlexE frame in eachFlexE multiframe carries a number of service data transmitted in acorresponding timeslot 0 (slot 0), and so on, until a 20th FlexE framein the FlexE multiframe carries a number of service data transmitted ina corresponding slot 19. After receiving information about FlexE frameson all links in a FlexE group, the receive end device can obtain atimeslot allocation manner of each piece of service data in the FlexEgroup.

In a FlexE, service data may be transmitted in a plurality of cross-linktimeslots. Therefore, the receive end device needs to performdifferential delay compensation on each link in the FlexE group beforerestoring a FlexE service from a plurality of timeslots. Otherwise, codeblock disorder may be caused when a FlexE service is restored fromcross-link timeslots with a differential delay. The FlexE 1.0 standardstipulates that, in a FlexE group, the first overhead code block in aFlexE frame transmitted on each link is used as a mark, and transmissiondelays of all links are aligned using a buffer on a receive end device.Usually, a differential delay compensation (deskew) capability for eachlink is at least 300 ns in a transmission scenario of FlexE groupshim-to-shim direct connection, and a differential delay compensationcapability for each link is at least 10 micro seconds (μs) during FlexEgroup long-distance cross-transport-network transmission.

Service data may be transmitted in a plurality of cross-link timeslotsin the FlexE group. Therefore, FlexE frames on a plurality of links needto be aligned on the receive end device to ensure that the service datacan be restored in a correct sequence from corresponding timeslots.According to the FlexE 1.0 standard, a FlexE frame boundary is used as areference, to calculate a differential delay between links, and aligncode block streams on the links using a buffer. As described above, adifferential delay, between links in a FlexE group, stipulated in aFlexE standard should be less than or equal to 300 nanoseconds (ns) inthe transmission scenario of FlexE group shim-to-shim direct connection,and a differential delay between links should be less than or equal to10 μs in a long-distance cross-transport-network transmission scenario.If a differential delay on a link in the FlexE group exceeds adifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device,the entire FlexE group fails.

FlexO technology is as follows.

In a FlexO, a plurality of standard-rate ports (for example, mx100G) arebundled to constitute a FlexO group to carry a standard opticaltransport unit Cn (OTUCn) (n≥1) signal. This makes up a defect of aprevious protocol that a port whose bandwidth is greater than 100G isnot defined. Similar to that in a FlexE, an OTUCn signal is transmittedin a cross-link manner on a plurality of links, and therefore, servicedata transmitted on all links needs to be aligned to ensure restorationof the transmitted OTUCn signal. Currently, in the FlexO, it isstipulated that service data on all links in a FlexO group is alignedusing a frame alignment signal (FAS) field in an OTUCn frame transmittedusing the links. If a differential delay of a link in the FlexO groupexceeds a differential delay compensation capability of a receive enddevice, the entire FlexO group fails.

LLDP technology is as follows.

The embodiments of this application further relate to the LLDPtechnology. The LLDP is defined in the standard 802.1AB. Using the LLDP,a transport network device may periodically send, using a standard LLDPTLV unit, a multicast packet carrying local information to anotheradjacent transport network device. The LLDP stipulates that a standardsimple network management protocol (SNMP) management information base(MIB) is deployed on each port of the transport network device to storelocal status information and status information of another adjacenttransport network device. Between transport network devices, statusinformation stored in the SNMP MIB is refreshed by sending and receivingthe LLDP TLV unit. Using the LLDP can facilitate management andmaintenance of transport network device status information.

A TLV unit is a basic information unit in the LLDP. Different types ofTLVs may carry different information. The LLDP reserves a TLV unit thatcan be self-defined by standard organizations. Table 1 shows adefinition of each field of an LLDP-format TLV unit that can beself-defined. It should be understood that all TLV units shown in Table2 to Table 7 in this specification are specific application forms of theTLV unit shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 LLDP-format TLV unit that can be self-defined Byte: 7 to 6 + n 12 3 to 5 6 (1 ≤ n ≤ 507) Type = 127 Length OUI SubtypeOrganization-defined (7 bits) (9 bits) (2 bytes) (1 byte) information (1to n − 1 bytes)

The following describes a scenario to which a link group configurationmethod in the embodiments of this application is applied, with referenceto FIG. 2 to FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 2, a FlexE works between a MAClayer and a PHY layer. In the FlexE, an original reconciliation sublayer(RS) and PCS are modified to implement functions of dividing aconventional Ethernet port into TDM channels and bundling a plurality ofEthernet ports. The LLDP and a LAG technology work at the MAC layer. TheFlexE 1.0 standard defines application scenarios of FlexE Ethernettransmission and cross-transport-network transmission. FIG. 5 is aschematic diagram of an application scenario of FlexEcross-transport-network transmission. FlexE cross-transport-networktransmission is based on a FlexE aware transport mode. In FIG. 5, aFlexE shim in an Ethernet router needs to perform differential delaycompensation on two links in a FlexE group connected to the FlexE shim.A FlexO works at the PHY layer. Similar to that in the FlexE,differential delay compensation also needs to be performed on aplurality of links.

Based on a case in which a FlexE group in the FlexE may fail and a casein which a FlexO group in the FlexO may fail, the embodiments of thisapplication provide a link group configuration method. According to theembodiments of this application, compensation negotiation betweentransport network devices is implemented through reconstruction offunctional parts related to a related FlexE or FlexO. After thereconstruction is performed according to the embodiments of thisapplication, during link group establishment, the transport networkdevice allows a link group to include a link that exceeds a differentialdelay compensation capability of a receive end device. It should beunderstood that the transport network device in the embodiments of thisapplication may include a source end device, an intermediate device, anda receive end device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a link group configuration method 100according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 6, thelink group configuration method 100 may include the following steps.

Step S110: A first device obtains first status information of M linksbetween a source end device and a receive end device, where the firststatus information is used to indicate a status of a differential delaybetween any two of the M links, any one of the M links is a FlexEphysical connection link or a FlexO physical connection link, and M isan integer greater than or equal to 2.

Step S120: The first device obtains first capability information of thereceive end device, where the first capability information is used toindicate a first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device.

Step S130: The first device groups N of the M links into a first linkgroup based on the first status information and the first capabilityinformation, where N is an integer less than or equal to M and greaterthan or equal to 2.

Step S140: The first device sends first configuration information to asecond device, where the first configuration information includesinformation used to indicate the first link group.

It should be understood that the first device is a decision device thatdetermines a link group division manner, and the second device includesa related device that cooperates with the decision device to completelink group configuration.

It should be further understood that, in the embodiments of thisapplication, differential delay compensation is delayed-receivingcompensation, namely, compensation in a receiving direction, and usuallyis also referred to as “deskew”, and delayed-sending compensation iscompensation in a sending direction, and usually is also referred to as“remote deskew”.

According to the link group configuration method in this embodiment ofthis application, the first device groups the N of the M links into thefirst link group based on a status of a differential delay between the Mlinks between the source end device and the receive end device and thecapability of performing differential delay compensation on the M linksby the receive end device. This avoids a case in which all of the Mlinks are unavailable when the differential delay between the M linksexceeds the differential delay compensation capability of the receiveend device. Therefore, availability and robustness of a link in atransport network can be improved.

In a FlexE, a data stream on each link in a FlexE group is in a formatof a 64b/66b code block stream of 1 OH block+1023×20 data blocks, andthe receive end device uses, as a mark, 0x4b and 0x5 identificationfields in the first OH block in a FlexE frame transmitted on each link,to align data code blocks on all links.

Similarly, a FlexO frame is a data stream of 128*5440 bits, and eightframes are one multiframe. The receive end device uses, as a mark, a FASfield in an OTUCn frame carried in each FlexO frame to align data codeblocks on all links.

A link group configuration process and a subsequent compensation processin the embodiments of this application may be used for both of the twotypes of transport networks. In the embodiments, the FlexE is used as anexample for description. Certainly, the link group configuration methodin the embodiments of this application may alternatively be applied to aFlexO, or may be applied to a transport network using both the FlexE andFlexO technologies.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a status of a differential delaybetween links according to an embodiment of this application. As shownin FIG. 7, there are a total of five links PHY1 to PHY5 between a sourceend device and a receive end device. FlexE frames are sent between thesource end device and the receive end device independently on the links.A horizontal axis in FIG. 7 represents a time delay of FlexE framearrival on each link, and a width of a shaded box represents adifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device. Inthe five links shown in FIG. 7, a differential delay between the PHY1and a PHY 2 is relatively small, and a differential delay between aPHY3, a PHY4, and the PHY5 is relatively small. However, thedifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device isinsufficient to complete differential delay compensation on the PHY1 tothe PHY5.

The following describes in detail the link group configuration method inthis application with reference to several embodiments.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thereceive end device, and the second device is the source end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability.

In this embodiment, in step S110, obtaining, by a first device, firststatus information of M links between a source end device and a receiveend device may include measuring, by the first device, a differentialdelay between the M links, to obtain the first status information.Further, the receive end device may measure the differential delaybetween the M links using some existing solutions to obtain the firststatus information.

Further, according to the embodiments of this application, adifferential delay between any two links may be obtained by measuringtransmission delays of all links and comparing the transmission delays.Alternatively, a counter is added on a receive end device, the counterstarts counting from 0 after a mark code block on a quickest link isreceived, and a counter value x is recorded when a mark code block onanother link is received. In this case, a transmission delay differencebetween the two links is a transmission time corresponding to x codeblocks. A specific manner of measuring the differential delay betweenthe M links is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

In a specific example shown in FIG. 7, the first status information maybe the differential delay between the PHY1 and the PHY 2 is relativelysmall, and the differential delay between the PHY3, the PHY4, and thePHY5 is relatively small. However, the differential delay compensationcapability of the receive end device is insufficient to completedifferential delay compensation on the PHY1 to the PHY5.

Limited by the differential delay compensation capability of the receiveend device, the receive end device cannot support differential delaycompensation on all of the PHY1 to the PHY5. To maximize a quantity ofmember links supporting a cross-link service, N links may be selectedfrom all the M links between the source end device and the receive enddevice, and be marked as “selected”. The other M-N links are marked as“standby”. In this embodiment, N=3. To be specific, the PHY3, the PHY4,and the PHY5 are marked as “selected”, and the other two links PHY1 andPHY2 are marked as “standby”. The PHY3, the PHY4, and the PHY5 marked as“selected” constitute the first link group, and the three links in thefirst link group can carry a cross-link service. The PHY1 and the PHY2marked as “standby” may be used to independently transmit a completeservice. Alternatively, the PHY1 and the PHY2 marked as “standby” are ina standby status, and no service is transmitted in the standby status.Parallel service transmission is neither performed on a link marked as“standby” nor performed on two links that are respectively marked as“standby” and “selected”.

Alternatively, two link groups may be established. FIG. 8 is a schematicdiagram of a link group configuration result according to thisembodiment. Links PHY3, PHY4, and PHY5 are marked as “selected1”,namely, the first link group to carry a cross-link service. Links PHY1and PHY2 are marked as “selected2”, namely, a second link group to carrya cross-link service. Cross-link-group service transmission cannot beperformed using the first link group marked as “selected1” and thesecond link group marked as “selected2”.

In addition to the foregoing two link group configuration solutions, inthis embodiment of this application, there may be more differentconfiguration solutions in which a link group is determined based on astatus of a differential delay between links and a capability ofperforming differential delay compensation on a link by the receive enddevice. This is not limited in this embodiment of this application.

It should be understood that the foregoing is merely intended todescribe the link group configuration method in this embodiment of thisapplication using an example in which M=5, but is not intended to limitthe link group configuration method in this embodiment of thisapplication.

Optionally, the link group configuration method in this embodiment mayfurther include performing, by the first device, service datatransmission with the second device based on the first link group, andperforming, by the first device, differential delay compensation onlinks in the first link group based on the first configurationinformation.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a process 200 of link groupconfiguration and compensation according to this embodiment. The process200 may include the following steps.

Step S210: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step S220: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step S230: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links, to obtain the first status information.

Step S240: The receive end device determines a link group configuration,that is, determines the first configuration information, based on thefirst status information and the first capability information that canrepresent the capability of performing differential delay compensationon the M links by the receive end device. Further, the configurationincludes grouping the N of the M links into the first link group.

Step S250: The receive end device performs differential delaycompensation on the M links. Further, the receive end device performsdifferential delay compensation, that is, sets a differential delaybuffer size, based on the first configuration information. That is, thereceive end device performs differential delay compensation on the linksin the first link group based on the link group configuration determinedby the receive end device. It should be understood that steps S250 andS260 may be simultaneously performed. This is not limited in thisembodiment.

Step S260: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the source end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device. The firstconfiguration information may be in a plurality of forms, and thefollowing describes the forms in detail.

Following step may perform optionally.

Step S270: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application,the first configuration information may include a mark used to indicatethat a link belongs to the first link group. Details are not describedin the following embodiments again.

For example, the first configuration information may include a“selected” mark (used to indicate that a link belongs to the first linkgroup) and a “standby” mark that are described above.

For another example, the first configuration information may include a“selected1” mark (used to indicate that a link belongs to the first linkgroup) and a “selected2” mark (used to indicate that a link belongs tothe second link group) that are described above. Further, the firstdevice sends the first configuration information to the second deviceusing a first link of the N links, where the first configurationinformation is used to indicate that the first link belongs to the firstlink group. That is, link group configuration information may beindicated using a link group identifier (for example, a “subgroup ID”,where the “subgroup” is used for distinguishing from an existing“group”). When a “subgroup ID” is added to the M links, a differentialdelay compensation operation may be performed on links marked with asame “subgroup ID” in order to perform cross-link service transmission,if only one link is marked with a specific “subgroup ID”, a service canbe independently transmitted only on the link.

For another example, the first configuration information may includeinformation used to indicate a link group to which each of the M linksbelongs. The first device sends, to the second device using each link,the information used to indicate the link group to which each of the Mlinks belongs.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application, inS140, the sending, by the first device, first configuration informationto a second device may include adding, by the first device, the firstconfiguration information to a data code block, and sending the datacode block to the second device, or adding, by the first device, thefirst configuration information to a packet in an LLDB format, ahigh-level data link control (HDLC) format, or a point to point protocol(PPP) format, and sending the packet to the second device through amanagement channel of an overhead code block, or adding, by the firstdevice, the first configuration information to a reserved field of anoverhead code block, and sending the reserved field to the seconddevice. Details are not described in the following embodiments again.

In a specific example, the first configuration information (for example,transmitting, on each link, a mark of a link group to which the linkbelongs) is transmitted by sending an LLDP-format packet through amanagement channel of an OH code block. Further, the first configurationinformation may be carried in an LLDP-format TLV unit, to be transmittedthrough a shim-to-shim management channel in a FlexE OH code block.

An optional definition of each field of an LLDP-format TLV unit used tocarry the first configuration information is shown in Table 2.

In the TLV unit the first seven bits in bytes 1 to 2 are a TLV type.According to an LLDP stipulation, a type value of a TLV unit that isself-defined by each organization is 127.

The last nine bits in the bytes 1 to 2 are a TLV length, used toindicate a quantity of bytes in a total length of the TLV unit.

Bytes 3 to 5 are an organizationally unique identifier (OUI) of eachorganization, as stipulated by the LLDP. An OUI corresponding to an OIFis 00-0F-40.

A byte 6 is a subtype of the TLV unit self-defined by each organization,and may be 0x?? (hexadecimal), for example, may be 0x01 (hexadecimal) or00000001 (binary).

A byte 7 is a mark of a link group to which the link belongs.

0x00 may indicate that a differential delay of the link exceeds thedifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device,that is, indicate “standby”.

0x01 to 0xFF may indicate that a differential delay of the link iswithin the differential delay compensation capability of the receive enddevice, that is, indicate “selected”. A specific corresponding value mayindicate a number of the link group to which the link belongs.

It should be understood that the definition of each field of theLLDP-format TLV unit, used to carry the first configuration information,shown in Table 2 is merely an example, and may be correspondinglychanged depending on a requirement. This is not limited in theembodiments of this application.

TABLE 2 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the first configurationinformation Byte: 1 2 3 to 5 6 7 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype: A markof a link group to (7 bits) (9 bits) 00-0F-40 0x?? which a link belongs(1 byte) (1 byte)

After receiving the TLV unit through the management channel of the OHcode block, the source end device may complete link group configurationbased on an indication of “the mark of the link group to which the linkbelongs”, and send the service data.

In another specific example, the first configuration information (forexample, transmitting, on each link, a mark of a link group to which thelink belongs) is transmitted using a reserved field of an OH code block.A first part of bits in the first configuration information is used toindicate that the first link and another link constitute the first linkgroup, and a second part of bits in the first configuration informationis a mark of the first link group. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of aformat of a reserved field according to this embodiment. Further, 11bits may be selected from the reserved field of the OH code block tocarry the first configuration information. The first three bits maycarry the “selected” or “standby” mark, and subsequent eight bits may beused to carry “the mark of the link group to which the link belongs” ina “selected” status. It should be understood that the first part of bitsincluding the three bits and the second part of bits including the eightbits are merely an example. The first part of bits and the second partof bits may include more or fewer bits. This is not limited in thisembodiment of this application.

It should be understood that the OH code block includes a reserved fieldof a plurality of bits. A position of the reserved field, used to carrythe first configuration information, shown in FIG. 10 is merely anexample, but is not intended to limit the embodiments of thisapplication.

For the FlexO, configuration information corresponding to each link maybe placed in a management channel of an OH code block of an OTUCn framefor sending, may be placed at a 0 byte of a general communicationchannel (GCC) and be sent in a generic framing procedure (GFP) format,an HDLC format, or a PPP format, or using a reserved (also referred toas RES) field in a self-defined frame format, or may be placed in anOTUCn frame payload, for example, in a payload of an optical payloadunit Cn (OPUCn), and be sent in a GFP format or another self-definedframe format.

In this embodiment, the receive end device has the delayed-receivingcompensation capability, and the receive end device acts as the decisiondevice and determines the link group configuration. In this way,execution is easy and simple, and signaling overheads during link groupconfiguration are small.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thesource end device, and the second device is the receive end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability.

In this embodiment, in step S110, obtaining, by a first device, firststatus information of M links between a source end device and a receiveend device may include receiving, by the first device, the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device. In step S120, obtaining, bythe first device, first capability information of the receive end devicemay include receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation sent by the receive end device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a process 300 of link groupconfiguration and compensation according to this embodiment. The process300 may include the following steps.

Step S305: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step S310: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step S315: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step S320: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe source end device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device.

Step S325: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the source end device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the source end device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device.

Step S330: The source end device determines a link group configurationbased on the first status information and the first capabilityinformation. The configuration includes grouping the N of the M linksinto the first link group.

Step S335: The source end device sends the first configurationinformation to the receive end device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the receive end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the source end device.

Step S340: The receive end device performs differential delaycompensation on the M links. The receive end device performsdifferential delay compensation, that is, sets a differential delaybuffer size, based on the first configuration information. That is, thereceive end device performs differential delay compensation on the linksin the first link group based on the link group configuration determinedby the receive end device.

Step S345: The receive end device returns acknowledgement information tothe source end device to indicate that the first configurationinformation is received and corresponding link group configuration isperformed. Correspondingly, the source end device receives theacknowledgement information returned by the receive end device. Itshould be understood that step S345 is an optional step. Further, thereceive end device may further send, to the source end device, anupdated status of a differential delay between the links.

Step S350: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

A manner of sending the first configuration information may be similarto a manner of sending the first configuration information inEmbodiment 1. Details are not described herein again.

Optionally, in step S335, the first configuration information mayfurther include a buffer requirement of each link for differential delaycompensation to be performed by the receive end device. The receive enddevice may directly set a buffer volume of each link based on the bufferrequirement.

Optionally, in step S330, the source end device may further determine alink group configuration solution with reference to related informationof the service data to be sent to the receive end device, for example,comprehensive factors such as a service volume and/or bandwidth.

It should be understood that, in step S345, the acknowledgementinformation returned by the receive end device may be transmitted in aform of an LLDP-format packet, or may be transmitted using a reservedfield in an OH code block. For example, a two-bit reserved field afterthe OH reserved field that carries the first configuration informationin Embodiment 1 may be used for transmitting the acknowledgementinformation. For example, “00” indicates that the receive end devicereceives the first configuration information and successfully sets thebuffer volume of each link, and “01” indicates that the buffer volume ofeach link is not successfully set. The source end device may send theservice data after receiving the acknowledgment information “00”. Ifreceiving a “01” message, the source end device returns to S330 andre-determines a link group configuration solution.

In step S325, the first capability information may be sent using a datacode block, may be sent through a management channel of an overhead codeblock using a packet in an LLDP format, an HDLC format, or a PPP format,or may be sent using a reserved field of an overhead code block. This isnot limited in this embodiment.

In a specific example, the first capability information may be carriedin an LLDP-format TLV unit of a management channel of an overhead codeblock. A definition of each field of the LLDP-format TLV unit used tocarry the first capability information is shown in Table 3.

Definitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 3 are the same asdefinitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 2.

A byte 7 defines a capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the link. The first bit in the byte 7 may represent acapability of performing differential delay compensation on the link ina receiving direction. When a value of the first bit is “0”, itindicates that a buffer size in the receiving direction is a defaultvalue, for example, 469 code blocks corresponding to a 300 nsdifferential delay compensation capability defined in the FlexE 1.0.When a value of the first bit is “1”, it indicates that a buffer size inthe receiving direction is a value self-defined by the link, and aspecific value is described in bytes 8 to 10. Another bit in the byte 7may be a reserved field.

The bytes 8 to 10 define a buffer size of the link in the receivingdirection. If the first bit in the byte 7 is “1” (the buffer size in thereceiving direction is the self-defined value), a value x of the bytes 8to 10 indicates that the buffer size in the receiving direction is xcode blocks, where a value range of x is [1 to 0xFFFFFE]. If the firstbit in the byte 7 is “0”, the buffer size in the receiving direction isthe default value, and a value of the bytes 8 to 10 may be set to“0xFFFFFF”.

It should be understood that the buffer size in the receiving direction(for example, a local deskew buffer size) defined by the bytes 8 to 10in the TLV unit is an optional parameter. When the buffer size of thelink in the receiving direction is a default size, information about thebuffer size in the receiving direction does not need to be transferred,and a parameter thereof may be set to “0xFFFFFF”.

The buffer size in the receiving direction described herein as anexample uses a code block (block) as a unit. Similarly, the buffer sizein the receiving direction may be represented in different descriptionmanners such as ns, 10 ns, or bytes, or in a different-size basic bufferunit. This is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

In a transmission mode of FlexE aware transport, namely, across-transport-network transmission scenario, the receive end deviceinforms the source end device of the first capability using the TLVunit, and performs transmission through a shim-to-shim managementchannel of an OH code block. In another scenario, the TLV unit may betransmitted through a section management channel, or may be transmittedthrough a shim-to-shim management channel.

TABLE 3 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the first capabilityinformation Byte: 1 2 3 to 5 6 7 8 to 10 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype:Differential Buffer (7 bits) (9 bits) 00-0F- 0x?? delay size in a 40 (1byte) compensation receiving capability direction (1 byte) (3 bytes)

In a specific example, the first status information may be carried in anLLDP-format TLV unit of a management channel of an overhead code block.A definition of each field of the LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry thefirst status information is shown in Table 4.

Definitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 4 are the same asdefinitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 2.

A byte 7 defines a result of differential delay compensation performedon the link (for example, the result may be “FlexE group PHY deskewstatus”). The first bit in the byte 7 represents a result of a currentdifferential delay performed on the link in a receiving direction. “0”indicates that the receive end device performs differential delaycompensation on each of the M links based on the first configurationinformation, and differential delay compensation succeeds. “1” indicatesthat the receive end device does not perform differential delaycompensation or differential delay compensation fails. Another bit inthe byte 7 may be a reserved field.

Bytes 8 to 10 define a delay amount of a differential delay of the link.A delay amount (for example, “FlexE group PHY skew”) parameter of adifferential delay represents that when the receive end device receivesa data frame on each link, a delay amount of the link relative to a linkon which transmission is quickest in the M links. In this case, forexample, when “FlexE group PHY skew” of a link is 0, it indicates thatthe link is the link on which transmission is quickest in the M links. Avalue x of the parameter represents a transmission time corresponding toa case in which the delay amount of the differential delay is data of xcode blocks.

In a transmission mode of FlexE aware transport, namely, across-transport-network transmission scenario, the receive end deviceinforms the source end device of a differential-delay status of thereceive end device using the TLV unit, and performs transmission througha shim-to-shim management channel of an OH code block. In anotherscenario, the TLV unit may be transmitted through a section managementchannel, or may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim managementchannel.

TABLE 4 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the first capabilityinformation Byte: 1 2 3 to 5 6 7 8 to 10 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype:Differential Delay (7 bits) (9 bits) 00-0F- 0x?? delay amount of a 40 (1byte) result differential (1 byte) delay (3 bytes)

The source end device determines the link group configuration afterobtaining the first capability information of the receive end device andthe first status information of the links using the foregoing two TLVunits, and sends the first configuration information to the receive enddevice in a manner similar to that in Embodiment 1. The receive enddevice performs differential delay compensation on the links based onthe first configuration information. Details are not described hereinagain.

In this embodiment, the receive end device has the delayed-receivingcompensation capability, and the source end device acts as the decisiondevice, and may determine the link group configuration with reference torelated information of service data, for example, comprehensive factorssuch as a service volume and/or bandwidth.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is amanagement device, and the second device includes the receive end deviceand/or the source end device. The receive end device has adelayed-receiving compensation capability.

In this embodiment, in step S110, obtaining, by a first device, firststatus information of M links between a source end device and a receiveend device may include receiving, by the first device, the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device. In step S120, obtaining, bythe first device, first capability information of the receive end devicemay include receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation sent by the receive end device.

A process of determining, by the management device, a link groupconfiguration may include the following steps.

Step A-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step A-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step A-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step A-4: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe management device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the management device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device.

Step A-5: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the management device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the management device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device.

Step A-6: The management device determines a link group configurationbased on the first status information and the first capabilityinformation. Further, the configuration includes grouping the N of the Mlinks into the first link group.

Step A-7: The management device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device and the receive end device, wherethe first configuration information includes the information used toindicate the first link group. Correspondingly, the source end deviceand the receive end device receive the first configuration informationsent by the management device.

Step A-8: The source end device and/or the receive end device may returnacknowledgement information to the management device, to indicate thatthe first configuration information is received and correspondingconfiguration is performed. Correspondingly, the management devicereceives the acknowledgement information returned by the source enddevice and/or the receive end device. It should be understood that stepA-8 is an optional step.

Step A-9: The management device delivers, to the source end device afterreceiving the acknowledgement information, an indication indicating thatlink group configuration is completed. It should be understood that A-9is an optional step.

Step A-10: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

Step A-11: The receive end device performs, based on the firstconfiguration information, differential delay compensation on a link, inthe first link group, corresponding to the service data.

Step A-12: The receive end device directly sets a buffer volume of eachlink based on a buffer requirement, where the first configurationinformation sent by the management device to the receive end device mayfurther include the buffer requirement of each link for differentialdelay compensation to be performed by the receive end device. It shouldbe understood that step A-12 is an optional step.

It should be understood that communication, between the source enddevice and the receive end device and the management device, about thefirst status information, the first capability information, and thefirst configuration information may be performed through a managementchannel of an OH code block of the devices and the management device.Optionally, in a FlexO, the foregoing information may be transmittedusing a GCC0 byte of the OH code block in a GFP format, an HDLC format,or a PPP format, or using an RES field in a self-defined frame format.In a FlexE, the foregoing information may be transmitted in a form of aninternet protocol (IP) packet through the management channel of the OHcode block. A specific transmission manner is not limited in thisembodiment.

In this embodiment, the management device acts as the decision device.In this way, the management device can receive related information ofthe source end device and the receive end device, and can determine thelink group configuration in consideration of comprehensive factors suchas a service volume and/or bandwidth. In addition, this can avoid acomputing amount possibly resulting from decision-making of the sourceend device or the receive end device, and can reduce load of the sourceend device and the receive end device.

It should be understood that a link may further pass through someintermediate devices on a path from the source end device to the receiveend device in an actual scenario, for example, an application scenarioof FlexE cross-transport-network transmission shown in FIG. 5, that is,a transmission scenario based on a FlexE aware transport mode. Inaddition to the receive end device that can perform differential delaycompensation, each transmit port of the intermediate device may supporta capability of delaying data sending, namely, a delayed-sendingcompensation capability. Therefore, the receive end device and theintermediate device needs to perform negotiation to implementcollaborative compensation.

In some embodiments of this application, K upstream devices of thereceive end device on the M links may have a delayed-sendingcompensation capability, where K is a positive integer. The K upstreamdevices may include the source end device and/or at least oneintermediate device, and the intermediate device is located between thesource end device and the receive end device on the M links.

When the K upstream devices of the receive end device have thedelayed-sending compensation capability, the method 100 may furtherinclude obtaining, by the first device, second capability informationand second status information of each of the K upstream devices, wherethe second capability information is used to indicate a secondcapability of performing delayed-sending compensation on at least one ofthe M links by each upstream device, and the second status informationis used to indicate a current status of delayed-sending compensationperformed on the at least one of the M links by each upstream device, instep S130, grouping, by the first device, N of the M links into a firstlink group based on the first status information and the firstcapability information may include grouping, by the first device, the Nof the M links into the first link group based on the first statusinformation, the first capability information, the second statusinformation, and the second capability information, and the method 100may further include determining, by the first device based on the firststatus information, the first capability information, the second statusinformation, and the second capability information, a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that each upstream device needs to performon a corresponding link.

It should be noted that not all of the M links pass through all upstreamdevices. For any one of the K upstream devices, it is possible that onlysome (at least one) of the M links pass through the upstream device.

The following describes, with reference to several embodiments, the linkgroup configuration method in the embodiments of this application whenthe K upstream devices of the receive end device have thedelayed-sending compensation capability.

In Embodiment 4, Embodiment 5, and Embodiment 6, the first device,namely a decision device, is the receive end device, and the seconddevice is the source end device. The receive end device has adelayed-receiving compensation capability. The K upstream devices mayinclude the source end device and/or at least one intermediate device,and have the delayed-sending compensation capability.

In step S110, obtaining, by a first device, first status information ofM links between a source end device and a receive end device may includemeasuring, by the first device, a differential delay between the Mlinks, to obtain the first status information, obtaining, by the firstdevice, second capability information and second status information ofeach of the K upstream devices may include receiving, by the firstdevice, the second capability information and the second statusinformation that are sent by each upstream device, and the method 100may further include sending, by the first device, second configurationinformation to at least one of the K upstream devices, where the secondconfiguration information is used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the at least one upstream device needsto perform on a corresponding link.

After the at least one upstream device completes configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation, the method 100 may further includeperforming, by the first device, service data transmission with thesecond device based on the first link group, and performing, by thefirst device based on the first configuration information, differentialdelay compensation on a link, in the first link group, on which the atleast one upstream device has performed delayed-sending compensationbased on the second configuration information.

It should be understood that, when the M links cannot be aligned on thereceive end device, the M links cannot constitute a link group, to bespecific, a FlexE group or a FlexO group crashes and cannot work. Thesource end device, the receive end device, the intermediate device, andthe like in the embodiments of this application may all have adifferential delay compensation capability or a delayed-sendingcompensation capability. The devices in the embodiments of thisapplication implement link group compensation through capabilitynegotiation. When a compensation capability of each device in the FlexEgroup or the FlexO group between the source end device and the receiveend device is insufficient to compensate a differential delay betweenlinks, a link group is configured such that the source end deviceperforms cross-link service data transmission only on delay-alignedlinks. Alternatively, devices perform collaborative compensation suchthat the M links can be aligned on the receive end device finally. Thiscan ensure working of the FlexE group or the FlexO group, and canimprove link utilization.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thereceive end device, and the second device is the source end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability.Between the receive end device and the source end device, there is anintermediate device having a delayed-sending compensation capability.That is, the K upstream devices are the at least one intermediatedevice.

A process of collaborative compensation by the receive end device andthe intermediate device may include the following steps.

Step B-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step B-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step B-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links to obtain the first status information.

Step B-4: The intermediate device sends the second capabilityinformation to the receive end device, where the second capabilityinformation is used to indicate a second capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M links by eachintermediate device. Correspondingly, the receive end device receivesthe second capability information sent by the intermediate device. Itshould be understood that the second capability information may becarried in the data frame in B-2, or may be sent in another manner. Thisis not limited in this embodiment.

Step B-5: The intermediate device sends the second status information tothe receive end device, where the second status information is used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe at least one of the M links by each intermediate device.Correspondingly, the receive end device receives the second statusinformation sent by the intermediate device. It should be understoodthat the second status information may be carried in the data frame instep B-2, or may be sent in another manner. This is not limited in thisembodiment.

Step B-6: The receive end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information that can representthe capability of performing differential delay compensation on the Mlinks by the receive end device, the second capability information, andthe second status information. A specific link group configurationincludes grouping the N of the M links into the first link group.

Step B-7: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the intermediate device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device. It should beunderstood that step B-7 is an optional step, and step B-7 may beperformed for another process instead of a collaborative compensationprocess.

Step B-8: The receive end device sends the second configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the second configurationinformation includes information used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the upstream device needs to performon a corresponding link. Correspondingly, the intermediate devicereceives the second configuration information sent by the receive enddevice.

Step B-9: The intermediate device adjusts a sending delay of a linkbased on the second configuration information.

Step B-10: The intermediate device sends, to the receive end device,information about an updated current status of delayed-sendingcompensation. In this way, preparation can be made for nextcollaborative compensation, and the receive end device is informed thatconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation is completed.

Step B-11: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device after receiving the informationsent by the intermediate device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the source end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device. In addition,optionally, the first configuration information may further includeinformation used to indicate that related configuration of differentialdelay compensation is completed.

Step B-12: The receive end device performs differential delaycompensation on the M links. Further, the receive end device performsdifferential delay compensation, that is, sets a differential delaybuffer size, based on the first configuration information. That is, thereceive end device performs differential delay compensation on the linksin the first link group based on the link group configuration determinedby the receive end device.

Step B-13: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that communication, between the source enddevice, the intermediate device, and the receive end device, about thefirst status information, the first capability information, the firstconfiguration information, the second status information, the secondcapability information, the second configuration information, and otherrelated information may be performed using a data code block, may beperformed through a management channel of an overhead code block using apacket in an LLDP format, an HDLC format, or a PPP format, or may beperformed using a reserved field of an overhead code block. This is notlimited in this embodiment.

A manner of sending the first configuration information is similar to amanner of sending the first configuration information in Embodiment 1.Details are not described herein again.

In this embodiment and other embodiments of this application, forreporting or transmission of capability information of a device, forexample, the first capability information and the second capabilityinformation, such capability information may be carried in anLLDP-format TLV unit of a management channel of an overhead code block.A definition of each field of the LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry thecapability information is shown in Table 5.

Definitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 5 are the same asdefinitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 2.

A byte 7 defines a capability of performing compensation on the link.The first bit in the byte 7 may represent a capability of performingdifferential delay compensation on the link in a receiving direction.When a value of the first bit is “0”, it indicates that a buffer size inthe receiving direction is a default value, for example, 469 code blockscorresponding to a 300 ns differential delay compensation capabilitydefined in the FlexE 1.0. When a value of the first bit is “1”, itindicates that a buffer size in the receiving direction is a valueself-defined by the link, and a specific value is described in bytes 8to 10. The second bit in the byte 7 may represent a capability ofperforming delayed-sending compensation on the link in the receivingdirection. When a value of the second bit is “0”, it indicates a defaultmode in which a delayed-sending compensation capability is notsupported. When a value of the second bit is “1”, it indicates that adelayed-sending compensation capability is supported, and a specificvalue of a delayed-sending buffer size is described in bytes 11 to 13.Another bit in the byte 7 may be a reserved field.

The bytes 8 to 10 define a buffer size of the link in the receivingdirection. If the first bit in the byte 7 is “1” (the buffer size in thereceiving direction is the self-defined value), a value x of the bytes 8to 10 indicates that the buffer size in the receiving direction is xcode blocks, where a value range of x is [1 to 0xFFFFFE]. If the firstbit in the byte 7 is “0”, the buffer size in the receiving direction isthe default value, and a value of the bytes 8 to 10 may be set to“0xFFFFFF”.

The bytes 11 to 13 define a buffer size of the link in a sendingdirection. If the first bit in the byte 7 is “1” (the delayed-sendingcompensation capability is supported in the sending direction), a valuex of the bytes 8 to 10 indicates that the buffer size in the sendingdirection is x code blocks, where a value range of x is [1 to 0xFFFFFE].If the first bit in the byte 7 is “O”, it indicates that thedelayed-sending compensation capability is not supported in the sendingdirection, and a value of the bytes 8 to 10 may be set to “0xFFFFFF”.

The buffer size described herein as an example uses a code block (block)as a unit. Similarly, the buffer size may be represented in differentdescription manners such as ns, 10 ns, or bytes, or in a different-sizebasic buffer unit. This is not limited in the embodiments of thisapplication.

In a transmission mode of FlexE aware transport, namely, across-transport-network transmission scenario, the devices inform eachother of the capabilities using the TLV unit, and perform transmissionthrough a shim-to-shim management channel of an OH code block. Inanother scenario, the TLV unit may be transmitted through a sectionmanagement channel, or may be transmitted through a shim-to-shimmanagement channel.

TABLE 5 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the capability informationByte: 1 2 3 to 5 6 7 8 to 10 11 to 13 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype:Link Buffer Buffer (7 bits) (9 bits) 00-0F-40 0x?? compensation size ina size in a (1 byte) capability receiving sending (1 byte) directiondirection (3 bytes) (3 bytes)

It should be noted that, in all the embodiments of this application, thecapability information may be carried using the TLV unit shown in Table5. A link is usually bidirectional. Therefore, a device is a receive enddevice in a transmission direction, and the device is a source enddevice or an upstream device in another transmission direction. In thisembodiment, the TLV unit used to carry the capability information isdesigned in a form shown in Table 5 such that the device can use the TLVunit to report the capability information, regardless of whether thedevice acts as the receive end device or acts as the source end deviceor the upstream device.

That is, the TLV unit, shown in Table 5, in an LLDP format of amanagement channel of an overhead code block may carry the firstcapability information used to indicate the first capability ofperforming differential delay compensation on the M links by the receiveend device, and can also carry information used to indicate a capabilityof performing delayed-sending compensation on the M links by the receiveend device when the receive end device sends service data to the sourceend device.

In this embodiment and other embodiments of this application, forreporting or transmission of status information of a device, forexample, the first status information and the second status information,such status information may be carried in an LLDP-format TLV unit of amanagement channel of an overhead code block. A definition of each fieldof the LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the status information isshown in Table 6.

Definitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 6 are the same asdefinitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 2.

A byte 7 defines a current status of differential delay compensationperformed on the link and a current status of delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the link, that is, a link compensation status.The first bit in the byte 7 represents a current status of differentialdelay compensation performed on the link in a receiving direction. Whena value of the first bit is “0”, it indicates that differential delaycompensation performed on the link in the receiving direction succeeds.For example, in a reserved field of the OH code block, the link ismarked as “selected”, and a “subgroup ID” is “3”. In this case, itindicates that differential delay compensation performed on the linksucceeds, compared with that performed on another link in a subgroup 3.When a value of the first bit is “1”, it indicates that differentialdelay compensation performed on the link in the receiving directionfails. For example, in a reserved field of the OH code block, the linkis marked as “selected”, and a “subgroup ID” is “3”. In this case, itindicates that differential delay compensation performed on the linkfails, compared with that performed on another link in a subgroup 3, andthe link exceeds a differential delay compensation capability of adevice. A differential delay amount is described in bytes 8 to 10. Thesecond bit in the byte 7 represents a current status of delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the link in a sending direction. When a valueof the second bit is “0”, it indicates absence of a delayed-sendingcapability for the link in the sending direction. When a value of thesecond bit is “1”, it indicates that a delayed-sending capability forthe link is being used in the sending direction. A delayed-sendingamount is described in bytes 11 to 13. Another bit in the byte 7 is areserved field.

The bytes 8 to 10 define a differential delay amount by which the linkexceeds the differential delay compensation capability in the receivingdirection when differential delay compensation performed on the link inthe receiving direction fails. A value x of the differential delayamount indicates that the exceeded differential delay amount is atransmission time corresponding to a buffer size of x code blocks. Whendifferential delay compensation in the receiving direction succeeds, xis 0.

The bytes 11 to 13 define a delayed-sending amount of the link. A valuex of the delayed-sending amount indicates that a currently-useddelayed-sending buffer size is x code block. When the second bit in thebyte 7 is “0” (no delayed-sending capability for the link in the sendingdirection), a value of x is “0xFFFFFF”.

The buffer size described herein as an example uses a code block (block)as a unit. Similarly, the buffer size may be represented in differentdescription manners such as ns, 10 ns, or bytes, or in a different-sizebasic buffer unit. This is not limited in the embodiments of thisapplication.

In a transmission mode of FlexE aware transport, namely, across-transport-network transmission scenario, the devices inform eachother of the statuses using the TLV unit, and perform transmissionthrough a shim-to-shim management channel of an OH code block. Inanother scenario, the TLV unit may be transmitted through a sectionmanagement channel, or may be transmitted through a shim-to-shimmanagement channel.

TABLE 6 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the status information Byte:1 2 3 to 5 6 7 8 to 10 11 to 13 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype: LinkDifferential Delayed-sending (7 bits) (9 bits) 00-0F-40 0x??compensation delay amount amount (1 byte) status (3 bytes) (3 bytes) (1byte)

It should be noted that, in all the embodiments of this application, thestatus information may be carried using the TLV unit shown in Table 6. Alink is usually bidirectional. Therefore, a device is a receive enddevice in a transmission direction, and the device is a source enddevice or an upstream device in another transmission direction. In thisembodiment, the TLV unit used to carry the status information isdesigned in a form shown in Table 6 such that the device can use the TLVunit to report the status information, regardless of whether the deviceacts as the receive end device or acts as the source end device or theupstream device.

That is, the TLV unit, shown in Table 6, in an LLDP format of amanagement channel of an overhead code block may carry the first statusinformation used to indicate the status of the differential delaybetween any two of the M links, and can also carry information used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe M links by the receive end device when the receive end device sendsservice data to the source end device.

In addition, after the decision device determines the secondconfiguration information, the TLV unit shown in Table 6 may further beused to carry the second configuration information. To be specific, theTLV unit can further carry information that is used to indicate aconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation that an upstream deviceneeds to perform on a corresponding link.

A manner of sending the first configuration information may be similarto a manner of sending the first configuration information inEmbodiment 1. Details are not described herein again. In addition, inthis embodiment and other embodiments of this application, for reportingor transmission of status information of a device and delivery ofconfiguration information, for example, the first status information,the second status information, the first configuration information, andthe second configuration information, such information may be carriedtogether in an LLDP-format TLV unit of a management channel of anoverhead code block. A definition of each field of the LLDP-format TLVunit used to carry the status information and the configurationinformation is shown in Table 7.

Definitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 7 are the same asdefinitions of fields of bytes 1 to 6 in Table 2.

Bytes 7 and 8 define a compensation status of the link and a link groupconfiguration. The first bit in the byte 7 represents a current statusof differential delay compensation performed on the link in a receivingdirection. When a value of the first bit is “0”, it indicates thatdifferential delay compensation performed on the link in the receivingdirection succeeds. For example, in a field subsequent to the bytes 7and 8, the link is marked as “selected”, and a “subgroup ID” is “3”. Inthis case, it indicates that differential delay compensation performedon the link succeeds, compared with that performed on another link in asubgroup 3. When a value of the first bit is “1”, it indicates thatdifferential delay compensation performed on the link in the receivingdirection fails. For example, in a field subsequent to the bytes 7 and8, the link is marked as “selected”, and a “subgroup ID” is “3”. In thiscase, it indicates that differential delay compensation performed on thelink fails, compared with that performed on another link in a subgroup3, and the link exceeds a differential delay compensation capability ofa device. A differential delay amount is described in bytes 9 to 11. Thesecond bit in the byte 7 represents a current status of delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the link in a sending direction. When a valueof the second bit is “0”, it indicates absence of a delayed-sendingcapability for the link in the sending direction, or that adelayed-sending capability is not used in the sending direction. When avalue of the second bit is “1”, it indicates that a delayed-sendingcapability for the link is being used in the sending direction. Adelayed-sending amount is described in bytes 12 to 14. Another bit inthe byte 7 is a reserved field.

The third to the 13th bits in the bytes 7 and 8 are used to represent alink group to which the link belongs, that is, mark information of thelink. The second to the fourth bits are used to represent “selected” or“standby”. For example, “001” represents “selected”, and “010”represents “standby”. In a “selected” status, subsequent eight bits maybe used to represent a “subgroup ID”. Another bit in the bytes 7 and 8is a reserved field.

The differential delay amount described by the bytes 9 to 11 in Table 7is the same as the differential delay amount described by the bytes 8 to10 in Table 6, and the delayed-sending amount described by the bytes 12to 14 in Table 7 is the same as the delayed-sending amount described bythe bytes 11 to 13 in Table 6. Details are not described herein again.

TABLE 7 LLDP-format TLV unit used to carry the status information Byte:1 2 3 to 5 6 7 to 8 9 to 11 12 to 14 Type = 127 Length OUI: Subtype:Link compensation Differential Delayed-sending (7 bits) (9 bits)00-0F-40 0x?? status and a link delay amount amount (1 byte) groupconfiguration (3 bytes) (3 bytes) (2 bytes)

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thereceive end device, and the second device is the source end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability. Thesource end device has a delayed-sending compensation capability, thatis, the K upstream devices are the source end device.

A process of determining, by the receive end device, a link groupconfiguration and performing, by the receive end device and the sourceend device, collaborative compensation may include the following steps.

Step C-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step C-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step C-3: The source end device sends the second capability informationto the receive end device, where the second capability information isused to indicate a second capability of performing delayed-sendingcompensation on at least one of the M links by the source end device.Correspondingly, the receive end device receives the second capabilityinformation sent by the source end device. It should be understood thatthe second capability information may be carried in the data frame instep C-2, or may be sent in another manner. This is not limited in thisembodiment.

Step C-4: The source end device sends the second status information tothe receive end device, where the second status information is used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe at least one of the M links by the source end device.Correspondingly, the receive end device receives the second statusinformation sent by the source end device. It should be understood thatthe second status information may be carried in the data frame in stepC-2, or may be sent in another manner. This is not limited in thisembodiment.

Step C-5: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links to obtain the first status information.

Step C-6: The receive end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information that can representthe capability of performing differential delay compensation on the Mlinks by the receive end device, the second capability information, andthe second status information. A specific link group configurationincludes grouping the N of the M links into the first link group.

Step C-7: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the source end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device.

Step C-8: The receive end device sends the second configurationinformation to the source end device, where the second configurationinformation includes information used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the source end device needs to performon a corresponding link. Correspondingly, the source end device receivesthe second configuration information sent by the receive end device.

Step C-9: The source end device adjusts a sending delay of a link basedon the second configuration information.

C-10: The source end device sends, to the receive end device,information about an updated status of delayed-sending compensation. Inthis way, preparation can be made for next collaborative compensation,and the receive end device is informed that configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation is completed.

Step C-11: After receiving the information sent by the source enddevice, the receive end device re-analyzes the differential delaybetween the links, and performs differential delay compensation on the Mlinks. Further, the receive end device performs differential delaycompensation, that is, sets a differential delay buffer size, based onthe first configuration information. That is, the receive end deviceperforms differential delay compensation on the links in the first linkgroup based on the link group configuration determined by the receiveend device. The receive end device feeds back, to the source end device,a status of a differential delay between the links and the link groupconfiguration.

Step C-12: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that, between the source end device and thereceive end device, a transmission format and transmission channel of atleast one of the first status information, the first capabilityinformation, the first configuration information, the second statusinformation, the second capability information, or the secondconfiguration information are similar to those in Embodiment 4, anddetails are not described herein again.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thereceive end device, and the second device is the source end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability. Thesource end device and at least one intermediate device have adelayed-sending compensation capability. That is, the K upstream devicesinclude the source end device and the at least one intermediate device.

A process of collaborative compensation by the receive end device, thesource end device, and the at least one intermediate device may includethe following steps.

Step D-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step D-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step D-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links to obtain the first status information.

Step D-4: The source end device and the at least one intermediate devicesend the second capability information to the receive end device, wherethe second capability information is used to indicate the secondcapability of performing delayed-sending compensation on at least one ofthe M links by each upstream device. Correspondingly, the receive enddevice receives the second capability information sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the second capability informationmay be carried in the data frame in step D-2, or may be sent in anothermanner. This is not limited in this embodiment.

Step D-5: The source end device and the at least one intermediate devicesend the second status information to the receive end device, where thesecond status information is used to indicate the current status ofdelayed-sending compensation performed on the at least one of the Mlinks by each upstream device. Correspondingly, the receive end devicereceives the second status information sent by the source end device. Itshould be understood that the second status information may be carriedin the data frame in step D-2, or may be sent in another manner. This isnot limited in this embodiment.

Step D-6: The receive end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information that can representthe capability of performing differential delay compensation on the Mlinks by the receive end device, the second capability information, andthe second status information. A specific link group configurationincludes grouping the N of the M links into the first link group.

Step D-7: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the source end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device.

Step D-8: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the intermediate device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the receive end device. It should beunderstood that step D-8 is an optional step, and step D-8 may beperformed for another process instead of a collaborative compensationprocess.

Step D-9: The receive end device sends the second configurationinformation to the source end device and the at least one intermediatedevice, where the second configuration information includes informationused to indicate a configuration of delayed-sending compensation thatthe source end device and the at least one intermediate device need toseparately perform on corresponding links. Correspondingly, the sourceend device and the at least one intermediate device each receive thesecond configuration information sent by the receive end device.

Step D-10: The source end device and the at least one intermediatedevice adjust a sending delay of a link, that is, set a delayed-sendingbuffer size, based on the second configuration information.

Step D-11: The source end device and the at least one intermediatedevice send, to the receive end device, information about an updatedstatus of delayed-sending compensation. In this way, preparation can bemade for next collaborative compensation, and the receive end device isinformed that configuration of delayed-sending compensation iscompleted.

Step D-12: The receive end device re-analyzes the differential delaybetween the links, and performs differential delay compensation on the Mlinks. Further, the receive end device performs differential delaycompensation, that is, sets a differential delay buffer size, based onthe first configuration information. That is, the receive end deviceperforms differential delay compensation on the links in the first linkgroup based on the link group configuration determined by the receiveend device. The receive end device feeds back, to the source end device,a status of a differential delay between the links and the link groupconfiguration.

Step D-13: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that, between the source end device and thereceive end device, a transmission format and transmission channel of atleast one of the first status information, the first capabilityinformation, the first configuration information, the second statusinformation, the second capability information, or the secondconfiguration information are similar to those in Embodiment 4, anddetails are not described herein again.

In Embodiment 7, Embodiment 8, and Embodiment 9, the first device,namely a decision device, is the source end device, and the seconddevice is the receive end device. The receive end device has adelayed-receiving compensation capability. The K upstream devices mayinclude the source end device and/or at least one intermediate device,and have the delayed-sending compensation capability.

In step S110, obtaining, by a first device, first status information ofM links between a source end device and a receive end device may includereceiving, by the first device, the first status information sent by thereceive end device. In step S120, obtaining, by the first device, firstcapability information of the receive end device may include receiving,by the first device, the first capability information sent by thereceive end device.

After the at least one upstream device completes configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation, the method 100 may further includeperforming, by the first device, service data transmission with thesecond device based on the first link group, and performing, by thefirst device based on the first configuration information, differentialdelay compensation on a link, in the first link group, on which the atleast one upstream device has performed delayed-sending compensationbased on the second configuration information.

Embodiment 7

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thesource end device, and the second device is the receive end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability.Between the receive end device and the source end device, there is anintermediate device having a delayed-sending compensation capability.That is, the K upstream devices are the at least one intermediatedevice.

Further, obtaining, by the first device, second capability informationand second status information of each of the K upstream devices mayinclude receiving, by the first device, the second capabilityinformation and the second status information that are sent by each ofthe at least one intermediate device, and the method 100 may furtherinclude sending, by the first device, second configuration informationto at least some of the at least one intermediate device, where thesecond configuration information is used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the at least some intermediate devicesneed to perform on a corresponding link.

It should be understood that the sending, by the first device, secondconfiguration information to at least some of the at least oneintermediate device may be directly sending, by the first device, thesecond configuration information to the intermediate device, or may besending, by the first device, the second configuration information tothe receive end device such that the receive end device forwards thesecond configuration information to the intermediate device. That is,the first device may directly send or indirectly send the secondconfiguration information to the intermediate device. This is notlimited in this embodiment.

A process of collaborative compensation by the receive end device andthe intermediate device may include the following steps.

Step E-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step E-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step E-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step E-4: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe source end device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device. Optionally, the first statusinformation may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channelof an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step E-5: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the source end device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the source end device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device. Optionally, the first capability information maybe transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channel of an OH codeblock in a FlexE.

Step E-6: The intermediate device sends the second capabilityinformation to the source end device, where the second capabilityinformation is used to indicate a second capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M links by eachintermediate device. Correspondingly, the source end device receives thesecond capability information sent by the intermediate device. It shouldbe understood that the second capability information may be carried inthe data frame in step E-2, or may be sent in another manner. This isnot limited in this embodiment. Optionally, the second capabilityinformation may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channelof an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step E-7: The intermediate device sends the second status information tothe source end device, where the second status information is used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe at least one of the M links by each intermediate device.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the second statusinformation sent by the intermediate device. It should be understoodthat the second status information may be carried in the data frame instep E-2, or may be sent in another manner. This is not limited in thisembodiment. Optionally, the second status information may be transmittedthrough a section management channel of an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step E-8: The source end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information, the secondcapability information, and the second status information. A specificlink group configuration includes grouping the N of the M links into thefirst link group.

Step E-9: The source end device sends the first configurationinformation and the second configuration information to the receive enddevice, where the first configuration information includes theinformation used to indicate the first link group. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the first configuration information sent bythe source end device.

Step E-10: The receive end device performs configuration of differentialdelay compensation, for example, sets a local buffer for differentialdelay compensation, based on the first configuration information.

Step E-11: The receive end device sends the second configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the second configurationinformation includes information used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the intermediate device needs toperform on a corresponding link. Correspondingly, the intermediatedevice receives the second configuration information sent by the receiveend device.

Step E-12: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the intermediate device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the source end device. It should beunderstood that step E-12 is an optional step, and step E-12 may beperformed for another process instead of a collaborative compensationprocess.

Step E-13: The intermediate device adjusts a sending delay of a link,for example, sets a buffer for delayed data sending, based on the secondconfiguration information.

Step E-14: The intermediate device sends, to the receive end device,information about an updated current status of delayed-sendingcompensation. In this way, preparation can be made for nextcollaborative compensation, and the receive end device is informed thatconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation is completed.

Step E-15: After receiving the information sent by the intermediatedevice, the receive end device re-analyzes the differential delaybetween the links, and performs differential delay compensation on the Mlinks. Further, the receive end device performs differential delaycompensation, that is, sets a differential delay buffer size, based onthe first configuration information. The receive end device feeds back,to the source end device, information indicating that configuration iscompleted.

Step E-16: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

Optionally, in step E-8, the source end device may further determine alink group configuration solution with reference to related informationof the service data to be sent to the receive end device, for example,comprehensive factors such as a service volume and/or bandwidth.

It should be understood that, between the source end device, theintermediate device, and the receive end device, a transmission formatand transmission channel of at least one of the first statusinformation, the first capability information, the first configurationinformation, the second status information, the second capabilityinformation, or the second configuration information are similar tothose in Embodiment 4, and details are not described herein again.

Embodiment 8

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thesource end device, and the second device is the receive end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability. Thesource end device has a delayed-sending compensation capability, thatis, the K upstream devices are the source end device.

Further, the method 100 may further include transmitting, by the firstdevice based on the first link group, service data to the second devicebased on a determined configuration of delayed-sending compensation thatthe first device needs to perform on a corresponding link.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a process 400 of link groupconfiguration and compensation according to this embodiment. The process400 of collaborative compensation by the receive end device and thesource end device may include the following steps.

Step S405: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step S410: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step S415: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step S420: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe source end device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device. Optionally, the first statusinformation may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channelof an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step S425: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the source end device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the source end device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device. Optionally, the first capability information maybe transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channel of an OH codeblock in a FlexE.

Step S430: The source end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information, the secondcapability information used to indicate a capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M links by thesource end device, and the second status information used to indicate astatus of delayed-sending compensation performed on the at least one ofthe M links by the source end device. A specific link groupconfiguration includes grouping the N of the M links into the first linkgroup.

Step S435: The source end device adjusts a sending delay of acorresponding link based on the delayed-sending compensationconfiguration determined in S430. For example, in S430, delayed-sendingcompensation of a PHY2 is determined to be performed. In this case, abuffer size of delayed-sending compensation of the PHY2 is adjusted inS435.

Step S440: The source end device sends the first configurationinformation to the receive end device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the receive end device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the source end device.

Step S445: The receive end device performs configuration of differentialdelay compensation, for example, sets a local buffer for differentialdelay compensation, based on the first configuration information.

Step S450: The receive end device sends, to the source end device,acknowledgement information indicating that configuration is completed.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the acknowledgementinformation sent by the receive end device. When the acknowledgementinformation indicates that the source end device successfully configuresdelayed-sending compensation, step S455 is performed. When theacknowledgement information indicates that the source end device failsto configure delayed-sending compensation, step S430 is performed again.

Step S455: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that, between the source end device and thereceive end device, a transmission format and transmission channel of atleast one of the first status information, the first capabilityinformation, the first configuration information, the second statusinformation, the second capability information, or the secondconfiguration information are similar to those in Embodiment 4, anddetails are not described herein again.

Embodiment 9

In this embodiment, the first device, namely a decision device, is thesource end device, and the second device is the receive end device. Thereceive end device has a delayed-receiving compensation capability. Thesource end device and at least one intermediate device have adelayed-sending compensation capability. That is, the K upstream devicesinclude the source end device and the at least one intermediate device.

The method 100 may further include transmitting, by the first devicebased on the first link group, service data to the second device basedon a determined configuration of delayed-sending compensation that thefirst device needs to perform on a corresponding link.

A process of collaborative compensation by the receive end device, thesource end device, and the at least one intermediate device may includethe following steps.

Step F-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step F-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step F-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step F-4: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe source end device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device. Optionally, the first statusinformation may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channelof an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step F-5: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the source end device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the source end device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device. Optionally, the first capability information maybe transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channel of an OH codeblock in a FlexE.

Step F-6: The intermediate device sends the second capabilityinformation to the source end device, where the second capabilityinformation is used to indicate a second capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M links by eachintermediate device. Correspondingly, the source end device receives thesecond capability information sent by the intermediate device. It shouldbe understood that the second capability information may be carried inthe data frame in step F-2, or may be sent in another manner. This isnot limited in this embodiment. Optionally, the second capabilityinformation may be transmitted through a shim-to-shim management channelof an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step F-7: The intermediate device sends the second status information tothe source end device, where the second status information is used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe at least one of the M links by each intermediate device.Correspondingly, the source end device receives the second statusinformation sent by the intermediate device. It should be understoodthat the second status information may be carried in the data frame instep F-2, or may be sent in another manner. This is not limited in thisembodiment. Optionally, the second status information may be transmittedthrough a section management channel of an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step F-8: The source end device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information, the secondcapability information sent by the intermediate device, the secondcapability information used to indicate a capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M links by thesource end device, the second status information sent by theintermediate device, and the second status information used to indicatea status of delayed-sending compensation performed on the at least oneof the M links by the source end device. A specific link groupconfiguration includes grouping the N of the M links into the first linkgroup.

Step F-9: The source end device adjusts a sending delay of acorresponding link based on the delayed-sending compensationconfiguration determined in step F-8. For example, in step F-8,delayed-sending compensation of a PHY2 is determined to be performed. Inthis case, a buffer size of delayed-sending compensation of the PHY2 isadjusted in step F-9.

Step F-10: The source end device sends the first configurationinformation and the second configuration information to the receive enddevice, where the first configuration information includes theinformation used to indicate the first link group. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the first configuration information sent bythe source end device.

Step F-11: The receive end device performs configuration of differentialdelay compensation, for example, sets a local buffer for differentialdelay compensation, based on the first configuration information.

Step F-12: The receive end device sends the second configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the second configurationinformation includes information used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the intermediate device needs toperform on a corresponding link. Correspondingly, the intermediatedevice receives the second configuration information sent by the receiveend device.

Step F-13: The receive end device sends the first configurationinformation to the intermediate device, where the first configurationinformation includes the information used to indicate the first linkgroup. Correspondingly, the intermediate device receives the firstconfiguration information sent by the source end device. It should beunderstood that step F-13 is an optional step, and step F-13 may beperformed for another process instead of a collaborative compensationprocess.

Step F-14: The intermediate device adjusts a sending delay of a link,for example, sets a buffer for delayed data sending, based on the secondconfiguration information.

Step F-15: The intermediate device sends, to the receive end device,information about an updated current status of delayed-sendingcompensation. In this way, preparation can be made for nextcollaborative compensation, and the receive end device is informed thatconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation is completed.

Step F-16: The receive end device performs differential delaycompensation on the M links after receiving the information sent by theintermediate device. Further, the receive end device performsdifferential delay compensation, that is, sets a differential delaybuffer size, based on the first configuration information. The receiveend device sends, to the source end device, information indicating thatconfiguration is completed.

Step F-17: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that, between the source end device, theintermediate device, and the receive end device, a transmission formatand transmission channel of at least one of the first statusinformation, the first capability information, the first configurationinformation, the second status information, the second capabilityinformation, or the second configuration information are similar tothose in Embodiment 4, and details are not described herein again.

In Embodiment 10, the first device, namely a decision device, is amanagement device, and the second device includes the receive end deviceand/or the source end device. The receive end device has adelayed-receiving compensation capability. The K upstream devices mayinclude the source end device and/or at least one intermediate device,and have the delayed-sending compensation capability.

Further, in step S110, obtaining, by a first device, first statusinformation of M links between a source end device and a receive enddevice may include receiving, by the first device, the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device, in step S120, obtaining, bythe first device, first capability information of the receive end devicemay include receiving, by the first device, the first capabilityinformation sent by the receive end device, obtaining, by the firstdevice, second capability information and second status information ofeach of the K upstream devices may include receiving, by the firstdevice, the second capability information and the second statusinformation that are sent by each upstream device, and the method 100may further include sending, by the first device, second configurationinformation to at least one of the K upstream devices, where the secondconfiguration information is used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the at least one upstream device needsto perform on a corresponding link.

A process of determining, by the management device, a link groupconfiguration and performing, by the receive end device and anotherdevice, collaborative compensation may include the following steps.

Step G-1: Start the link between the source end device and the receiveend device.

Step G-2: The source end device separately sends data frames to thereceive end device using the M links independently. Correspondingly, thereceive end device receives the data frames sent by the source enddevice. It should be understood that the data frames may include analignment mark.

Step G-3: The receive end device measures a status of a differentialdelay between the M links.

Step G-4: The receive end device sends the first status information tothe management device, where the first status information is used toindicate the status of the differential delay between the M links.Correspondingly, the management device receives the first statusinformation sent by the receive end device.

Step G-5: The receive end device sends the first capability informationto the management device, where the first capability information is usedto indicate the first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device. Correspondingly,the management device receives the first capability information sent bythe receive end device.

Step G-6: The source end device and/or the at least one intermediatedevice send/sends the second capability information to the managementdevice, where the second capability information is used to indicate thesecond capability of performing delayed-sending compensation on at leastone of the M links by each upstream device. Correspondingly, themanagement device receives the second capability information sent by thesource end device and/or the at least one intermediate device. It shouldbe understood that the second capability information corresponding tothe source end device may be carried in the data frame in step G-2, ormay be sent in another manner. This is not limited in this embodiment.Optionally, the second capability information may be transmitted througha shim-to-shim management channel of an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step G-7: The source end device and/or the at least one intermediatedevice send/sends the second status information to the managementdevice, where the second status information is used to indicate thecurrent status of delayed-sending compensation performed on the at leastone of the M links by each upstream device. Correspondingly, themanagement device receives the second status information sent by thesource end device and/or the at least one intermediate device. It shouldbe understood that the second status information corresponding to thesource end device may be carried in the data frame in step G-2, or maybe sent in another manner. This is not limited in this embodiment.Optionally, the second status information may be transmitted through asection management channel of an OH code block in a FlexE.

Step G-8: The management device determines a link group configurationand a delayed-sending compensation configuration based on the firststatus information, the first capability information, the second statusinformation, and the second capability information. Further, theconfiguration includes grouping the N of the M links into the first linkgroup.

Step G-9: The management device sends second configuration informationto an upstream device that is in the K upstream devices (including thesource end device and/or the at least one intermediate device) and thatneeds to perform configuration of delayed-sending compensation, wherethe second configuration information is used to indicate adelayed-sending compensation configuration.

Step G-10: The upstream device that is in the K upstream devices(including the source end device and/or the at least one intermediatedevice) and that needs to perform configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation configures a delayed-sending compensation buffer size basedon the second configuration information.

Step G-11: The upstream device that is in the K upstream devices(including the source end device and/or the at least one intermediatedevice) and that needs to perform configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation returns acknowledgement information to the managementdevice to indicate that the second configuration information is receivedand corresponding configuration is performed. Correspondingly, themanagement device receives the acknowledgement information returned bythe source end device and/or the receive end device. It should beunderstood that step G-11 is an optional step.

Step G-12: The management device sends the first configurationinformation and the second configuration information to the receive enddevice after receiving the acknowledgement information, where the firstconfiguration information includes the information used to indicate thefirst link group. Correspondingly, the receive end device receives thefirst configuration information and the second configuration informationthat are sent by the management device. Optionally, the firstconfiguration information may further include a buffer requirement ofeach link for differential delay compensation to be performed by thereceive end device. The receive end device may directly set a buffervolume of each link based on the buffer requirement.

Step G-13: The receive end device performs corresponding configurationbased on the first configuration information and the secondconfiguration information.

Step G-14: The receive end device may return acknowledgement informationto the management device, to indicate that the first configurationinformation and the second configuration information are received andcorresponding configuration is performed. Correspondingly, themanagement device receives the acknowledgement information returned bythe receive end device. It should be understood that step G-13 is anoptional step.

Step G-15: The management device sends the first configurationinformation to the source end device after receiving the acknowledgementinformation returned by the receive end device. It should be understoodthat step G-15 is an optional step.

Step G-16: The source end device sends service data to the receive enddevice based on the first configuration information.

It should be understood that communication, between the source enddevice and the receive end device and the management device, about thefirst status information, the first capability information, the firstconfiguration information, the second status information, the secondcapability information, and the second configuration information may beperformed through a management channel of an OH code block of thedevices and the management device. Optionally, in a FlexO, the foregoinginformation may be transmitted using a GCC0 byte of the OH code block ina GFP format, an HDLC format, or a PPP format, or using an RES field ina self-defined frame format. In a FlexE, the foregoing information maybe transmitted in a form of an IP packet through the management channelof the OH code block. A specific transmission manner is not limited inthis embodiment.

In the embodiments of this application, the source end device and thereceive end device, or even including the intermediate device and thelike, may all have a differential delay compensation capability or adelayed-sending compensation capability. The embodiments of thisapplication are applied to the devices, to implement link groupcompensation through capability negotiation. When a compensationcapability of each device in the FlexE group or the FlexO group betweenthe source end device and the receive end device is insufficient tocompensate a differential delay between links, a link group isconfigured such that the source end device performs cross-link servicedata transmission only on delay-aligned links.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application, intransmission of any one of the first status information, the firstcapability information, the second status information, the secondcapability information, the first configuration information, and thesecond configuration information, status, capability, or configurationinformation corresponding to each link may be transmitted on the link,that is, related information is transmitted using a link as agranularity. Certainly, in the embodiments of this application, relatedinformation may alternatively be transmitted using another granularity,for example, using a device as a granularity. This is not limitedherein.

The foregoing describes the link group configuration method provided inthe embodiments of this application. The following describes a linkgroup configuration device provided in the embodiments of thisapplication.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a link group configurationdevice 500 according to an embodiment of this application. The linkgroup configuration device 500 is a first device. As shown in FIG. 13,the link group configuration device 500 may include an obtaining module510 configured to obtain first status information of M links between asource end device and a receive end device, where the first statusinformation is used to indicate a status of a differential delay betweenany two of the M links, any one of the M links is a FlexE physicalconnection link or a FlexO physical connection link, and M is an integergreater than or equal to 2, where the obtaining module 510 is furtherconfigured to obtain first capability information of the receive enddevice, where the first capability information is used to indicate afirst capability of performing differential delay compensation on the Mlinks by the receive end device, a processing module 520 configured togroup N of the M links into a first link group based on the first statusinformation obtained by the obtaining module 510 and the firstcapability information obtained by the obtaining module 510, where N isan integer less than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 2, and asending module 530 configured to send first configuration information toa second device, where the first configuration information includesinformation used to indicate the first link group.

The link group configuration device in this embodiment of thisapplication groups the N of the M links into the first link group basedon a status of a differential delay between the M links between thesource end device and the receive end device and the capability ofperforming differential delay compensation on the M links by the receiveend device. This avoids a case in which all of the M links areunavailable when the differential delay between the M links exceeds thedifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device.Therefore, availability and robustness of a link in a transport networkcan be improved.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first device is the receiveend device, the second device is the source end device, and theobtaining module 510 is further configured to measure a differentialdelay between the M links to obtain the first status information, andthe device 500 further includes a compensation module 540 configured toperform differential delay compensation on links in the first link groupbased on the first configuration information, and a transmission module550 configured to perform service data transmission with the seconddevice based on the first link group.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the obtaining module 510 isfurther configured to receive the first status information sent by thereceive end device, and receive the first capability information sent bythe receive end device.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first device is the sourceend device, and the second device is the receive end device, or thefirst device is a management device, and the second device includes thereceive end device and/or the source end device.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, K upstream devices of the receiveend device on the M links have a delayed-sending compensationcapability, where K is a positive integer, the K upstream devicesinclude the source end device and/or at least one intermediate device,and the intermediate device is located between the source end device andthe receive end device on the M links. The obtaining module 510 isfurther configured to obtain second capability information and secondstatus information of each of the K upstream devices, where the secondcapability information is used to indicate a second capability ofperforming delayed-sending compensation on at least one of the M linksby each upstream device, and the second status information is used toindicate a current status of delayed-sending compensation performed onthe at least one of the M links by each upstream device. The processingmodule 520 is further configured to group the N of the M links into thefirst link group based on the first status information, the firstcapability information, the second status information, and the secondcapability information. The processing module 520 is further configuredto determine, based on the first status information, the firstcapability information, the second status information, and the secondcapability information, a configuration of delayed-sending compensationthat each upstream device needs to perform on a corresponding link.

It should be understood that, when the M links cannot be aligned on thereceive end device, the M links cannot constitute a link group, to bespecific, a FlexE group or a FlexO group crashes and cannot work. Thesource end device, the receive end device, the intermediate device, andthe like in the embodiments of this application may all have adifferential delay compensation capability or a delayed-sendingcompensation capability. The devices in the embodiments of thisapplication implement link group compensation through capabilitynegotiation. When a compensation capability of each device in the FlexEgroup or the FlexO group between the source end device and the receiveend device is insufficient to compensate a differential delay betweenlinks, a link group is configured such that the source end deviceperforms cross-link service data transmission only on delay-alignedlinks. Alternatively, devices perform collaborative compensation suchthat the M links can be aligned on the receive end device finally. Thiscan ensure working of the FlexE group or the FlexO group, and canimprove link utilization.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first device is the receiveend device, the second device is the source end device, and theobtaining module 510 is further configured to measure a differentialdelay between the M links, to obtain the first status information, andreceive the second capability information and the second statusinformation that are sent by each upstream device, and sending module530 is further configured to send second configuration information to atleast one of the K upstream devices, where the second configurationinformation is used to indicate a configuration of delayed-sendingcompensation that the at least one upstream device needs to perform on acorresponding link.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the device 500 may furtherinclude a compensation module 540 configured to perform, based on thefirst configuration information, differential delay compensation on alink, in the first link group, on which the at least one upstream devicehas performed delayed-sending compensation based on the secondconfiguration information, and a transmission module 550 configured toperform service data transmission with the second device based on thefirst link group.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first device is the sourceend device, the second device is the receive end device, and theobtaining module 510 may be further configured to receive the firststatus information sent by the receive end device, and receive the firstcapability information sent by the receive end device.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the K upstream devices includethe first device, and the device 500 may further include a transmissionmodule 550 configured to transmit, based on the first link group,service data to the second device based on a determined configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that the first device needs to perform on acorresponding link.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the K upstream devices include atleast one intermediate device, and the obtaining module 510 is furtherconfigured to receive the second capability information and the secondstatus information that are sent by each of the at least oneintermediate device, and the sending module 530 is further configured tosend second configuration information to at least some of the at leastone intermediate device, where the second configuration information isused to indicate a configuration of delayed-sending compensation thatthe at least some intermediate devices need to perform on acorresponding link.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first device is a managementdevice, the second device includes the receive end device and/or thesource end device, and the obtaining module 510 may be furtherconfigured to receive the first status information sent by the receiveend device, receive the first capability information sent by the receiveend device, and receive the second capability information and the secondstatus information that are sent by each upstream device, and thesending module 530 may be further configured to send secondconfiguration information to at least one of the K upstream devices,where the second configuration information is used to indicate aconfiguration of delayed-sending compensation that the at least oneupstream device needs to perform on a corresponding link.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first configurationinformation includes a mark used to indicate that a link belongs to thefirst link group.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the sending module 530 may befurther configured to add the first configuration information to areserved field of an overhead code block, and send the reserved field tothe second device.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the sending module 530 may befurther configured to send the first configuration information to thesecond device using a first link of the N links, where the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate that the first linkbelongs to the first link group.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, a first part of bits in the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate that the first link andanother link constitute the first link group, and a second part of bitsin the first configuration information is a mark of the first linkgroup.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the obtaining module 510 isfurther configured to receive the first status information that is sentby the receive end device and that is carried in a first TLV unit in anLLDP format of a management channel of an overhead code block.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first TLV unit can furthercarry information that is used to indicate a current status ofdelayed-sending compensation performed on the M links by the receive enddevice when the receive end device sends service data to the source enddevice.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the first TLV unit can furthercarry information that is used to indicate a configuration ofdelayed-sending compensation that an upstream device needs to perform ona corresponding link.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the obtaining module 510 isfurther configured to receive the first capability information that issent by the receive end device and that is carried in a second TLV unitin an LLDP format of a management channel of an overhead code block.

Optionally, in an optional embodiment, the second TLV unit can furthercarry information that is used to indicate a capability of performingdelayed-sending compensation on the M links by the receive end devicewhen the receive end device sends service data to the source end device.

It should be understood that some functions of the obtaining module 510in this embodiment of this application may be implemented by a processoror a related circuit component of a processor, some functions of theobtaining module 510 may be implemented by a network interface or arelated circuit component of a network interface, the processing module520 may be implemented by a processor or a related circuit component ofa processor, and the sending module 530 may be implemented by a networkinterface or a related circuit component of a network interface.

As shown in FIG. 14, an embodiment of this application further providesa link group configuration device 600. The link group configurationdevice 600 is a first device. The link group configuration device 600includes a processor 610, a memory 620, and a network interface 630. Thememory 620 is configured to store an instruction. The processor 610 andthe network interface 630 are configured to execute the instructionstored in the memory 620.

When the processor 610 and the network interface 630 of the link groupconfiguration device 600 execute the instruction stored in the memory620, the following are implemented, Obtaining, by the first device,first status information of M links between a source end device and areceive end device, where the first status information is used toindicate a status of a differential delay between any two of the Mlinks, any one of the M links is a FlexE physical connection link or aFlexO physical connection link, and M is an integer greater than orequal to 2, obtaining, by the first device, first capability informationof the receive end device, where the first capability information isused to indicate a first capability of performing differential delaycompensation on the M links by the receive end device, grouping, by thefirst device, N of the M links into a first link group based on thefirst status information and the first capability information, where Nis an integer less than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 2,and sending, by the first device, first configuration information to asecond device, where the first configuration information includesinformation used to indicate the first link group.

The link group configuration device in this embodiment of thisapplication groups the N of the M links into the first link group basedon a status of a differential delay between the M links between thesource end device and the receive end device and the capability ofperforming differential delay compensation on the M links by the receiveend device. This avoids a case in which all of the M links areunavailable when the differential delay between the M links exceeds thedifferential delay compensation capability of the receive end device.Therefore, availability and robustness of a link in a transport networkcan be improved.

It should be understood that the link group configuration device 500shown in FIG. 13 or the link group configuration device 600 shown inFIG. 14 may be configured to perform an operation or a process relatedto a terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. In addition,an operation and/or a function of each module in the link groupconfiguration device 500 or the link group configuration device 600are/is for implementing a corresponding process in the foregoing methodembodiments. For brevity, details are not described herein again.

It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may beanother general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gateor a transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or thelike. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or theprocessor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should be further understood that the memory in the embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory,or may include both a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory. Thenonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM(PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or aflash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM),and is used as an external cache. Through illustrative rather thanlimitative descriptions, a plurality of forms of RAMs can be used, forexample, a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous DRAM(SDRAM), a double data rate (DDR) SDRAM, an enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), asynchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and a direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be understood that, when the processor is the general purposeprocessor, the DSP, the ASIC, the FPGA or another programmable logicdevice, the discrete gate or transistor logic device, or the discretehardware component, the memory (a storage module) is integrated into theprocessor.

It should be noted that the memory described in this specification is toinclude, but not limited to, these memories and any other appropriatetype of memory.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computerreadable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium stores aninstruction. When the instruction is executed on a computer, thecomputer executes the link group configuration method in the foregoingmethod embodiments. Further, the computer may be the foregoing linkgroup configuration device, that is, the first device.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computerprogram product including an instruction. When a computer executes theinstruction of the computer program product, the computer executes thelink group configuration method in the foregoing method embodiments.Further, the computer program product may run on the foregoing linkgroup configuration device, that is, the first device.

All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented usingsoftware, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When softwareis used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments may be implementedcompletely or partly in a form of a computer program product. Thecomputer program product includes one or more computer instructions.When the computer instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, allor some of the processes or functions according to the embodiments ofthis application are generated. The computer may be a general-purposecomputer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or anotherprogrammable apparatus. The computer instruction may be stored in acomputer readable storage medium, or may be transmitted from a computerreadable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium. Forexample, the computer instruction may be transmitted from a website, acomputer, a server, or a data center to another website, anothercomputer, another server, or another data center in a wired (forexample, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line(DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, radio, or microwave) manner.The computer readable storage medium may be any usable medium that canbe accessed by the computer, or may be a data storage device, such as aserver or a data center, into which one or more usable media areintegrated. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, aFLOPPY DISK, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (forexample, a high-density digital versatile disc (DVD)), a semiconductormedium (for example, a solid-state drive (SSD)), or the like.

It should be understood that “first”, “second”, and various numbers inthis specification are merely intended for differentiation for ease ofdescription, but are not intended for limiting the scope of thisapplication.

It should be understood that the term “and/or” in this specification ismerely an associative relationship for describing associated objects,and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/orB may indicate the following three cases: A alone exists, both A and Bexist, and B alone exists. In addition, the character “/” in thisspecification usually indicates that there is an “or” relationshipbetween former and latter associated objects.

It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application,sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not indicate an executionsequence. An execution sequence of the processes should be determinedbased on functions and internal logic of the processes, but should notconstitute any limitation on implementation processes of the embodimentsof the present disclosure.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that units andalgorithm steps in examples described with reference to the embodimentsdisclosed in this specification can be implemented by electronichardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware.Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends onspecific applications and design constraint conditions of the technicalsolutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods toimplement the described functions for each specific application, but itshould not be considered that such an implementation goes beyond thescope of this application.

It can be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forease and brevity of description, for detailed working processes of theforegoing systems, apparatuses, and units, reference may be made tocorresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and detailsare not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should beunderstood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods may beimplemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatusembodiment is merely an example. For example, the unit division ismerely logical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or may be integrated into another system, or some features maybe ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussedmutual couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections may beimplemented using some interfaces. The indirect couplings orcommunication connections between the apparatuses or units may beimplemented in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected depending on anactual requirement, to achieve the objectives of the solutions in theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of this application maybe integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may existalone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of thisapplication, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of thisapplication. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by aperson skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in thisapplication shall fall within the protection scope of this application.Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject tothe protection scope of the claims.

1. A link group configuration method, implemented by a first device,comprising: obtaining first status information of M links between asource end device and a receive end device, wherein the first statusinformation indicates a status of a differential delay between two linksof the M links, wherein each of the M links is either a flexibleEthernet (FlexE) physical connection link or a flexible opticaltransport network (FlexO) physical connection link, and wherein M is aninteger greater than or equal to two; obtaining first capabilityinformation of the receive end device, wherein the first capabilityinformation indicates a first capability of performing differentialdelay compensation on the M links by the receive end device; grouping Nlinks of the M links into a first link group based on the first statusinformation and the first capability information, wherein N is aninteger less than or equal to M and greater than or equal to two; andsending first configuration information to a second device, wherein thefirst configuration information comprises information indicating thefirst link group.
 2. The link group configuration method of claim 1,wherein the first device is the receive end device, wherein the seconddevice is the source end device, and wherein the link groupconfiguration method further comprises: measuring a differential delayamong the M links to obtain the first status information; performingdifferential delay compensation on the N links based on the firstconfiguration information; and performing service data transmission withthe second device based on the first link group.
 3. The link groupconfiguration method of claim 1, wherein K upstream devices of thereceive end device on the M links have a delayed-sending compensationcapability, wherein K is a positive integer, wherein the K upstreamdevices comprise the source end device or an intermediate device,wherein the intermediate device is located between the source end deviceand the receive end device on the M links, wherein the link groupconfiguration method further comprises obtaining second capabilityinformation and second status information of each of the K upstreamdevices, wherein the second capability information indicates a secondcapability of performing a delayed-sending compensation on a link of theM links by each of the K upstream devices, wherein the second statusinformation indicates a current status of the delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the link of the M links by each of the Kupstream devices, wherein grouping the N links comprises grouping the Nlinks into the first link group based on the first status information,the first capability information, the second status information, and thesecond capability information, and wherein the link group configurationmethod further comprises determining, based on the first statusinformation, the first capability information, the second statusinformation, and the second capability information, a configuration ofthe delayed-sending compensation that each of the K upstream devicesneeds to perform on a corresponding link.
 4. The link groupconfiguration method of claim 1, wherein sending the first configurationinformation comprises sending the first configuration information to thesecond device using a first link of the N links, and wherein the firstconfiguration information indicates that the first link belongs to thefirst link group.
 5. The link group configuration method of claim 4,wherein a first part of bits in the first configuration informationindicates that the first link and another link constitute the first linkgroup, and wherein a second part of bits in the first configurationinformation is a mark of the first link group.
 6. The link groupconfiguration method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the first statusinformation comprises receiving, from the receive end device, the firststatus information that is carried in a first type-length-value (TLV)unit in a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) format of a managementchannel of an overhead code block.
 7. The link group configurationmethod of claim 6, wherein the first TLV unit is further capable ofcarrying information indicating a current status of a delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the M links by the receive end device when thereceive end device sends service data to the source end device.
 8. Thelink group configuration method of claim 6, wherein the first TLV unitis further capable of carrying information indicating a configuration ofa delayed-sending compensation that an upstream device needs to performon a corresponding link.
 9. The link group configuration method of claim1, wherein obtaining the first capability information comprisingreceiving, from the receive end device, the first capability informationthat is carried in a second type-length-value (TLV) unit in a link layerdiscovery protocol (LLDP) format of a management channel of an overheadcode block.
 10. The link group configuration method of claim 9, whereinthe second TLV unit is further capable of carrying informationindicating a capability of performing a delayed-sending compensation onthe M links by the receive end device when the receive end device sendsservice data to the source end device.
 11. A first device comprising: areceiver configured to: obtain first status information of M linksbetween a source end device and a receive end device, wherein the firststatus information indicates a status of a differential delay betweentwo of the M links, wherein each of the M links is either a flexibleEthernet (FlexE) physical connection link or a flexible opticaltransport network (FlexO) physical connection link, and wherein M is aninteger greater than or equal to two; and obtain first capabilityinformation of the receive end device, wherein the first capabilityinformation indicates a first capability of performing differentialdelay compensation on the M links by the receive end device; a processorcoupled to the receiver and configured to group N links of the M linksinto a first link group based on the first status information and thefirst capability information, wherein N is an integer less than or equalto M and greater than or equal to two; and a transmitter coupled to theprocessor and configured to send first configuration information to asecond device, wherein the first configuration information comprisesinformation indicating the first link group.
 12. The first device ofclaim 11, wherein the first device is the receive end device, whereinthe second device is the source end device, wherein the receiver isfurther configured to measure a differential delay among the M links toobtain the first status information, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to perform differential delay compensation on the N linksbased on the first configuration information, and wherein thetransmitter is further configured to perform service data transmissionwith the second device based on the first link group.
 13. The firstdevice of claim 11, wherein K upstream devices of the receive end deviceon the M links have a delayed-sending compensation capability, wherein Kis a positive integer, wherein the K upstream devices comprise thesource end device or an intermediate device, wherein the intermediatedevice is located between the source end device and the receive enddevice on the M links, wherein the receiver is further configured toobtain second capability information and second status information ofeach of the K upstream devices, wherein the second capabilityinformation indicates a second capability of performing adelayed-sending compensation on a link of the M links by each of the Kupstream devices, wherein the second status information indicates acurrent status of the delayed-sending compensation performed on the linkof the M links by each of the K upstream devices, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to: group the N links into the firstlink group based on the first status information, the first capabilityinformation, the second status information, and the second capabilityinformation; and determine, based on the first status information, thefirst capability information, the second status information, and thesecond capability information, a configuration of the delayed-sendingcompensation that each of the K upstream devices needs to perform on acorresponding link.
 14. The first device of claim 11, wherein thetransmitter is further configured to send the first configurationinformation to the second device using a first link of the N links, andwherein the first configuration information indicates that the firstlink belongs to the first link group.
 15. The first device of claim 14,wherein a first part of bits in the first configuration informationindicates that the first link and another link constitute the first linkgroup, and wherein a second part of bits in the first configurationinformation is a mark of the first link group.
 16. The first device ofclaim 11, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, fromthe receive end device, the first status information that is carried ina first type-length-value (TLV) unit in a link layer discovery protocol(LLDP) format of a management channel of an overhead code block.
 17. Thefirst device of claim 16, wherein the first TLV unit is further capableof carrying information indicating a current status of delayed-sendingcompensation performed on the M links by the receive end device when thereceive end device sends service data to the source end device.
 18. Thefirst device of claim 16, wherein the first TLV unit is further capableof carrying information indicating a configuration of a delayed-sendingcompensation that an upstream device needs to perform on a correspondinglink.
 19. The first device of claim 11, wherein the receiver is furtherconfigured to receive, from the receive end device, the first capabilityinformation that is carried in a second type-length-value (TLV) unit ina link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) format of a management channel ofan overhead code block.
 20. The first device of claim 19, wherein thesecond TLV unit is further capable of carrying information indicating acapability of performing a delayed-sending compensation on the M linksby the receive end device when the receive end device sends service datato the source end device.